The Next President of the United States
by lcf328
Summary: Donna's time on the Russell campaign, from her perspective. Also gets some inspiration from events from the real-life '08 Presidential race.
1. Chapter 1

Disclaimer: I do not own the characters from "The West Wing". There are bits of actual dialogue from the show and descriptions of plot lines from the show incorporated into this story. I don't own those either. Does that cover everything?

Notes: I did my best not to have anything in the story be too incompatible with events as they occurred on the show, but I know it's not perfect. For example, the strain between Josh and Donna early in season 7 might not have made sense if things had happened the way they did in this story. And Santos gets Secret Service protection a little earlier than he appears to on the show.

Also: in this story, states in the Democratic primary award their delegates on a winner-take-all basis, as they appeared to do on The West Wing, even though as everyone knows by now the real Democratic party awards them on a proportional basis.

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"I'm a terrible person," Donna announced, plopping down on a chair next to Will's desk.

"Why's that?" Will asked, barely looking up from his computer screen.

"I'm serious. I'm a terrible person. I'm a bad employee. I'm completely irresponsible. I don't know why you ever wanted to hire me."

"Okay, what's this about?" Will sighed and turned to look at her.

"Josh. I just left him – I mean, the job. I didn't even give him two weeks' notice, for heaven's sakes. I've never left a job without notice, ever. Not even the job I had at Baskin Robbins when I was in high school."

"Josh is a grown-up. I'm sure he'll handle it. Besides, you tried to give him notice. He kept canceling your lunches."

"That's not an excuse. It was the best job I ever had – I mean, until this one, of course, and I treated it like it was nothing. I should have at least stayed around to train my replacement. He's stuck with some temp, who I hear isn't even very good, and when he gets a permanent replacement, who's going to train that person? I mean, I'm pretty sure Josh doesn't even know half of what I did there. I just did it, and he took it for granted that it would be done. How's he supposed to be able to train someone else to do it? As if he even has time to be training a new assistant."

"Oh, get over yourself, Donna."

She blinked, looking slightly hurt. "Excuse me?"

"I mean, no offense. You were a great assistant, no doubt about it. But you're not irreplaceable. There are lots of great assistants out there. And it's a White House job. Do you know how many people would give their right arms to work in the White House? Josh will have his pick of the cream of the crop." Will paused and smiled. "Who knows, he may even find someone better than you were."

"Thanks. You really know how to cheer a girl up."

"Glad to help." Will turned back to his work, but Donna wasn't quite ready to end the conversation.

"So you don't think I-"

"Donna, what's this really about?" Will turned back to her, sounding slightly annoyed.

"What do you mean?"

"Are you in love with him?" Will startled her with the question.

"What?"

"Because, just so you know, he's in love with you."

"He told you that?" Donna felt her heart unexpectedly skip a beat.

"No, but any idiot can see it. If there was any doubt, the attack in Gaza cleared it up. From what I hear, he walked around like a zombie, occasionally ranting about killing people – terrorists, I mean," he quickly clarified when he saw Donna's eyes widen, "…until Leo finally gave him permission to fly to Germany and see you."

Donna felt a lump form in her throat. The memory of the attack was still painful. One minute she'd been getting into the car, and the next thing she knew she was waking up in a hospital bed in Germany. She remembered seeing herself talked about on the news. She remembered hearing that people had been killed, people she knew, and wondering how it was that she hadn't been. And Josh – she would never forget his face, filled with tenderness and worry, as he sat by her bedside.

And the memories just intensified her guilt. _He was such a good friend to me. And I just abandoned him, like it didn't mean anything. Did I ever even thank him for dropping everything and flying out to Germany to sit by my bed in the middle of an international crisis? I don't remember._

"I'm sorry, Donna." Will interrupted her thoughts. "I didn't mean to bring up a sensitive topic."

"No, it's okay." She took a deep breath and collected herself. "But I don't know why you think it's so strange that this bothers me. Josh was a good boss, and a good friend, and I treated him badly. I think it's perfectly normal for a person with a conscience to feel bad about that."

"So call him and apologize. Put your conscience to rest."

"I think I will." Donna dug her cell phone out of her purse. She punched in Josh's speed dial number, and her finger hovered over the "send" button. It wasn't the first time she'd tried to call him. Why was this hard? It was Josh. They'd known each other for years. Sure, there was bound to be some tension now, but still – this was ridiculous. Why couldn't she even bring herself to talk to him?

"I'll do it later." She muttered, putting her phone away.

"Whatever." Will shrugged, obviously much less interested in the issue than she was. "Now come on. We have work to do."


	2. Chapter 2

"Why should Bob Russell be the next President of the United States?"

Donna turned to face the reporter who'd asked the question, a young-looking woman who was holding an outstretched microphone. They were at a campaign rally in Iowa, and the Vice President was working the rope line after having given a rousing stump speech. Well, maybe "rousing" was a bit of an exaggeration, but it had been pretty good. The crowd had cheered, at least. Donna still wasn't entirely used to talking to the media, but this was an easy question. Of course she knew why Russell should be President. She'd spent weeks studying his background, his qualifications, his positions on the issues…

"Ms. Moss?"

"Bob Russell has the experience we need to lead our nation at this critical time." She got the vague feeling that she was parroting campaign literature word-for-word, but she went on. "He serves with distinction as Vice President of the United States, and before that he was in the House of Representatives."

"Yes, we all know that much." The reporter pressed. "But my question is, why should he be President?"

"He's strong on the economy. He wants to cut taxes for middle-class Americans. He's a good Democrat." She cringed as soon as those last words were out of her mouth. She knew they wouldn't make the best sound bite in the world.

"A good Democrat? That's the most you can say for him?"

"No, I-"

"Are you suggesting that his primary opponents _aren't_ good Democrats?"

"No, absolutely not. All I meant was – look. Bob Russell is highly qualified, and he's right on the issues that matter to this country. That's why he should be President."

"Thank you, Ms. Moss." The reporter walked away, and Donna turned to see Will standing behind her. From his face, it was clear he'd heard the exchange.

"Well, that was a train wreck," she sighed, walking over to him. She wasn't quite sure whether he would comfort her or chew her out.

"Don't worry about it. Awkward moments with the media are part of being in a campaign. Besides, that reporter was a jerk."

"It's their job to be jerks to people like us. I'm supposed to be able to not get tripped up."

Will was about to respond when his Blackberry rang. He answered it, walking a few steps away from Donna for privacy. A few minutes later, he approached her again.

"Well, you can stop feeling guilty about abandoning Josh," he announced.

"Why?"

"He's resigned his position at the White House."

"What?" She stared at him, wondering if she'd heard him correctly. Josh had quit? Why?

"Yep. Apparently Congressman Matt Santos has decided to get into the Presidential race, and Josh is running his campaign now. Go figure."

Donna tried to absorb the news. She knew that Josh had been dissatisfied with the idea of either Russell or Hoynes as the Democratic nominee, and shortly before she'd quit he'd said something to her about possibly backing a "dark-horse" candidate. But she'd been too distracted by her own plans to really pay attention to him. She found it nearly impossible to picture him actually giving up his dream job at the White House. For him to have done that for this Santos guy...Donna didn't know all that much about Congressman Santos, but she figured he must have something going for him to have earned that kind of vote of confidence from Josh.

"Anyway, I think this might end up being good for us," Will added.

"Why? Because I'll stop feeling guilty and will be able to concentrate on my work?"

"No." Will rolled his eyes. "Again, get over yourself. Look, Santos is going nowhere. No way he makes it out of Iowa and New Hampshire. Josh has to know that. I can't figure out why…" he paused. "But anyway, the Santos campaign will be over in a month, tops, and Josh will be unemployed. If – when – Russell locks up the nomination, what's he going to do other than work for us full-time?"

Donna frowned. "Josh isn't exactly the Vice President's biggest fan. You really think he'd join our campaign?"

"Russell may not be his first choice for the nomination, but once we're in the general election there's no way he sits it out. Not Josh Lyman. You really think he could stand to see a Republican replace Jed Bartlet in the White House?"

"Probably not," Donna conceded.

"But this whole Santos thing is strange." Will shook his head. "It just doesn't make a lot of sense to me. Why quit your job and pour your heart and soul into a candidate who has no chance of getting off the ground?"

"You really don't think Santos has any chance at all? I mean, if Josh sees something in him, then maybe-"

"Donna, please."

"Hey, you never know. Long shots have been known to come from behind. Bartlet was a long shot at first, remember?"

"Not this much of a long shot. Look, Santos has no money, and no name recognition. He doesn't even have much of a resume. I mean, three terms in the House? What's that? No, there's going to be no epic 'underdog pulls it out' story this time. One of two people is going to get this nomination: Russell or Hoynes. We have to make sure it's Russell."

Donna nodded, and then was quiet for a moment.

"Will?" she finally ventured.

"Yeah?"

"Why _should_ Bob Russell be the next President of the United States?"

Will thought for a minute. Donna noted that he didn't seem to have an instant, heartfelt answer for that question any more than she did.

"You know, I think you had it about right with that reporter," he finally concluded. "He's a good Democrat. Better than Hoynes, anyway. At least when you hear his name, the first words that come to mind are not 'sex scandal'. He's going to get the nomination. And we're Democrats. We have to do everything we can to build him up so that he'll win in November. We can't let the White House fall into enemy hands."

"Enemy hands?"

"Republican hands. No way." Will shook his head firmly. He looked at her carefully. "You're 100% with me on that, right?"

"Of course." Donna nodded. She didn't like hearing Republicans referred to as enemies. She didn't like the idea of _having_ enemies. But she supposed she was going to have to get used to it. This was what she had signed up for. She was an important player on a Presidential campaign. How many people got that kind of opportunity? She decided she would work on not being critical of Russell or the campaign, and instead simply be grateful for Will's willingness to take a chance and hire her.


	3. Chapter 3

Donna sat in her hotel room in New Hampshire, watching CNN. The political story of the day was the anti-Hoynes ad the Russell campaign had just released. She'd been opposed to the ad from the minute she'd seen it. She had told Will it was too negative, but he hadn't listened. And in fact, it was having the effect Will had been hoping for: it was so shocking that it was being discussed on the news, and played over and over again for free. Still, she had to wonder: was the adage 'there's no such thing as bad publicity' really true when it came to politics?

She turned her attention to the television:

"_And here's a clip of the ad that is generating so much controversy," the CNN news anchor told viewers before playing the footage:_

"_As Vice President, Hoynes praised Pakistan's defense minister as a 'bold thinker'," the ad's narrator intoned. "So bold, he may now be selling nuclear secrets to Nigeria. You can't take America's side by taking both sides. John Hoynes: whose side is he on?"_

"_The Hoynes campaign, not surprisingly, has cried foul, calling it a, quote, 'disgusting attack on John Hoynes' patriotism,'" the anchor continued, speaking to a network analyst. "Do they have a point?"_

"_Well, I think they do," the analyst responded. "In fact, it really goes beyond simply impugning Hoynes' patriotism. This ad comes dangerously close to suggesting treason. I have to say, it's about the most brutal attack ad I can remember seeing in my many years of covering politics. Certainly the most brutal primary ad, attacking a member of a candidate's own party, that I can remember."_

"_Well, for the record, the Russell campaign says they're not questioning Hoynes' patriotism, but rather his judgment," the anchor commented. "They also point to an ad put out by the Hoynes campaign on Russell's Colorado mining connections, and argue that the Hoynes campaign is the one who went negative first."_

"_And there's no denying, the ad put out by Hoynes was harsh as well," the analyst agreed. "But I have to say, I don't think it crossed the line in anywhere near the way the Russell ad did." _

Donna muted the TV, feeling disgusted. She grabbed her cell phone and called Will.

"Are you watching CNN?" she asked.

"Yep," he responded, not sounding unhappy with the network's coverage of the ad.

"I think we need to pull the ad."

"Donna, we've been over this. We knew the ad would generate controversy. That was the point."

"Are we really so threatened by Hoynes that we need to be _this_ brutal? Are there some poll numbers you're not telling me about? Because last time I checked, we're the front runners."

"Yes, and we want to stay that way."

"This ad makes us look like bullies, trashing another Democrat even though we're in the lead. In fact, it makes us look worse than that. We can attack Hoynes' policies all we want, but to suggest that he's not on America's side? And that just maybe he's on Pakistan's side instead? Really, Will? Is that the kind of campaign we want to run? Because I'm telling you, it's going to infuriate Democratic voters. They get mad enough when Republicans question their patriotism. How are they going to react to us doing it to a fellow Democrat?" She took a deep breath. That was as forceful as she'd been with Will since she'd taken the job. She hoped he wouldn't take it too badly.

"We're not questioning his patriotism. We're questioning his judgment." Will repeated their talking point.

"Will, I'm not the media, don't spin me."

"Okay, okay," he sighed. "Look, I know you're new to this kind of thing, and I get that it can be upsetting to hear the talking heads criticizing our ad. But the point is that while they're criticizing it, they're playing it. Over and over. It's going to be burned into voters' heads. And we did research on this ad. Focus groups at the mall. They told us it worked. And look at the results so far. We got that reporter to use the words "Hoynes" and "treason" in the same breath. The ad is effective, Donna. Shocking and negative, maybe, but effective."

"I guess that's all that matters," Donna tried to keep the sarcasm out of her voice.

"In politics, yes, most of the time that is all that matters."

She sighed and hung up the phone. She glanced at her contacts list, scrolling down to Josh's name. She wondered if she should call him. Not to talk about the ad or the campaign, of course, but just to hear a friendly voice.

But would it be a friendly voice? She knew he undoubtedly wanted to talk to her as well. A few weeks ago, they'd found themselves staying in hotel rooms across the hall from each other in Iowa. She'd watched through her peephole as he'd come to her door, almost knocked, and then changed his mind and gone back into his room. She wondered what he'd wanted to say. Did he miss her? Was he angry with her? Or both?

Plus, she was a little upset with Josh herself. When she'd run into him on the campaign trail a couple weeks ago, he'd taken the opportunity to tell her she was on the wrong campaign – like she would really consider bailing on the Russell campaign to join a losing effort like Santos for President – and then he'd asked what "make-work" job Will had her doing. As if he found it so unbelievable that she might actually have a substantial contribution to make to the Russell campaign – imagine his amazement at discovering she could do more than just answer phones. She'd loved throwing her job description in his face. And the icing on the cake had been when she'd paraded out the baskets of letters the Russell campaign was delivering to the DNC, urging them to protect the New Hampshire primary – a dig at Santos, who had taken some heat over an eight-year-old quote criticizing New Hampshire's status in the primaries.

She sighed. She was under enough stress as it was. She couldn't call Josh now and take the chance of getting in an argument which would make her even more upset. And besides, at least for the moment, they were competitors. Maybe she'd wait for the Santos campaign to burn out and then try to patch things up with him.


	4. Chapter 4

Donna hit rewind and watched the footage one more time: that crazy blond lady dragging the kid in the chicken suit down the hall and yelling at him, waving her finger in his face. Or beak, or whatever. She supposed she might find the clip amusing except for the fact that _she_ was the crazy blond lady. It was just a few days after her argument with Will over the anti-Hoynes ad, and now she had to deal with this.

She shook her head, thinking of the events that had led up to the chicken confrontation. It had all started when the Dover Herald had decided to invite only the two top candidates, Russell and Hoynes, to the debate they were hosting. Both Will and the Vice President had been infuriated. A two person debate would make Hoynes look like a serious challenger, and the Vice President was trying desperately to maintain an aura of inevitability, to claim the title of "presumptive nominee" before New Hampshire had even voted.

And of course, the Santos campaign had been beyond outraged at being excluded. No doubt all the excluded candidates were outraged, but Santos was the only one to do something about it. Undoubtedly that was because he had someone as savvy as Josh running his campaign. The Santos campaign had approached the Russell campaign and asked for their help in pressuring the Herald to include all the candidates. It had almost worked, too, until Santos had insisted on pushing for his favored debate rules, which would be designed to prevent candidates from evading questions. Donna didn't know whether to think Santos was clueless and arrogant for pushing so hard for his own rules, when he should have just been grateful for the chance to get back in the debate, or to be concerned that the Vice President seemed so strongly opposed to having to actually answer direct questions.

And that's when the circus had begun. Santos – or more likely Josh, actually – had sent the teenagers in chicken suits out to heckle Russell and Hoynes. And Donna had taken the bait. She should have just ignored the chicken, and the media would have too. But no.

She hit "rewind" and watched it again. She didn't know why she was doing this to herself.

"Oh lighten up, it wasn't that bad," she turned to see Will standing behind her.

"Easy for you to say. You're not the one arguing with a chicken on CNN."

"Good point." Will pulled up a chair beside her. "But look at it this way. Santos can send out all the guys in chicken suits he wants. It doesn't change the fact that his campaign is finished."

"You sound awfully confident of that."

"He's excluded from the debate. He has no money for ads. He's finished. A guy in a chicken suit making the news isn't going to get anyone to vote for him on Tuesday."

"Well, there's always that 'alternative' debate he's holding," Donna rolled her eyes. Santos had challenged all the candidates to an alternate debate, with his debate rules, on the same night as the Herald's debate.

"Right. And let's see, what will that be like? Santos standing there at the podium, debating himself? Or maybe a few of the other low-single-digit candidates will decide to show up too. Yeah, I'm sure the media will be all over that one."

Donna laughed and turned off the recording of the chicken incident, turning the TV to a prime time local news show.

"_Coming up during the commercial break, and of course we don't usually plug advertisements during our news segments, but this is kind of interesting," the news anchor began, "Congressman and Presidential candidate Matt Santos is in our studio right now. He's going to be filming a one-minute live ad which he has purchased on our station. That's right, he will be speaking to you live during the commercial break. It will be fascinating to hear what exactly he has to say." _

"What the…" Donna and Will gasped in unison.

"You were saying, Will?" Donna glared at him.

"I don't believe this. Goddamnit." Will muttered. He grabbed the remote and turned up the volume.

They both watched as Congressman Santos appeared on the screen, speaking straight to the camera as he decried his and the other candidates' exclusion from the debates and negative campaigning in general. They both knew instantly that the ad was devastatingly effective.

"Why didn't we think of something like that?" Donna groused.

"Damnit. Damnit." Will kept muttering. He pulled his blackberry out of his pocket and dialed. "Yeah, this is Will, I need to speak to the Vice President right away."

Donna shook her head. They'd been so proud of their advertising strategy: spend a huge sum of money on ads, and go so horrifically negative as to generate "buzz" and get their ads replayed for free on the news. Meanwhile, Matt Santos had bought exactly one minute of airtime, badmouthed nobody – and she knew that his ad, not theirs, would prove to be the single most effective of the primary season.

She couldn't help but be impressed.


	5. Chapter 5

The live ad proved to be a brilliant strategy for the Santos campaign. The publicity that resulted eventually pressured all the major candidates to appear at the "alternative" debate using Santos' debate rules. Congressman Santos had shone at the debate, with both the pundits and the flash polls declaring him the winner by a wide margin. The Vice President had managed to stumble through the debate without embarrassing himself too badly, but several commentators had described his performance as "lackluster." Largely as a result of the debate, Santos finished third in New Hampshire, enough to keep him alive as the primary season continued.

"Theoretically, what would you think about the possibility of becoming our campaign spokesperson?" Will asked Donna over lunch a few weeks later. They were in North Carolina, getting ready for the upcoming primary there.

"Me?"

"Yeah, I mean, why not? You're pretty, you're likeable, you're great on TV – heck, even when you were fighting that stupid chicken, you were awfully cute! I think you'd be perfect."

"I don't know, Will. I get nervous in front of reporters sometimes."

"So does everyone. Anyway, I haven't made any final decisions yet, but regardless, I want to get you out in front of the media more. There's an event coming up on the 26th, 'Coffee, Cake, and Candidates'. There will be a lot of press there. The Vice President is going, and I'm sending you with him. You can help get our message out while he works the room."

Donna nodded. "Any message in particular you want me to focus on?"

"Mainly, I want you to go on the attack."

"Okay."

"The Vice President will be doing his best to project an upbeat, positive image. You'll need to do his dirty work."

Donna nodded. She knew by now that this was part of the job. "Anything specific that you want me to hit Hoynes on?"

"That he's untrustworthy. If you can manage to work in references to his infidelity without actually saying it, that's great. Heck, if you think you can get away with it, go ahead and say it. It's his biggest Achilles heel."

"Right."

"And not just Hoynes. I want you to go after Santos. No one's taking him seriously enough to attack him, so he's been getting nothing but positive press."

"Does this mean _you're_ starting to take him seriously?"

"I don't know." Will shrugged. "I mean, I still don't see how he has a realistic shot at the nomination, but with him winning Arizona and New Mexico…every time I think his campaign is over, he manages to bring it back from the dead. And people like him. Hell, I like him."

"I've always liked him," Donna grinned. "I mean, not as much as Bingo Bob, of course, but-"

"Donna!"

"Just kidding."

"Anyway," Will continued, "I don't want to take any chances. I want him out of the race as soon as possible. And that's not going to happen until he stops getting a free ride from the press."

Donna nodded. "Trash Hoynes and trash Santos. Got it."

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"So what should I be expecting from this event?" The Vice President asked Donna as they rode together in the motorcade toward the "Coffee, Cake, and Candidates" forum. "I mean, other than the fact that I assume there will be coffee cake. And candidates."

"Coffee and cake," Donna corrected him.

"Huh?"

"The name of the event is Coffee, Cake, and Candidates. With a comma between 'coffee' and 'cake'."

"Oh."

"There will be a lot of press there. And about 300 voters are expected to be in attendance. You'll be spending most of your time talking to them. I'll work the media."

"Sounds good."

"Speaking of which," Donna began, "I've been trying to think of some good barbs to give to the press. How does this sound: Matt Santos claiming three House terms qualifies him to be President is like me saying I'm a foreign relations expert because I ordered Kung Pao last night."

The Vice President laughed. "I love it. Now I just have to work on combating my 'dull' image."

"I'm sure you'll do great."

"The best way to combat that kind of image is to show you have a sense of humor, that you can laugh at yourself," he told her. "Do you think people here will have heard my joke about the Vice Presidential Seal?"

"Sir, with all due respect, I think everyone has heard that joke by now."

The motorcade stopped at the entrance to the event, and Donna and the Vice President got out and walked into the room. It was a rather simple set-up, a large room filled with round tables. A buffet lined one wall, with offerings of fruit, muffins, cookies, nuts, cheese and crackers, and of course, several varieties of cake, as well as coffee dispensers. Numerous television and newspaper reporters were on the scene, along with the members of the public who had stood in line for free tickets. The candidates would each be giving a short speech later on, but the main purpose of the event was to give members the public a chance to interact with the candidates one-on-one.

Donna began reflexively scanning the room. It wasn't long before she spotted Matt Santos sitting at a table, engaged in what looked like an animated conversation with several voters. _If Santos is here…_

Yep. It only took her another moment to spot Josh, speaking with a newspaper columnist several feet away from the congressman.

"You're from the Russell campaign, right?" a television reporter came up to her, microphone in hand.

"Yes. My name is Donna Moss," she smiled at the camera.

"What do you think of this event so far?"

"Oh, it's wonderful. Vice President Russell is so excited to be able to be here and meet voters one on one, and chat with them over some great refreshments about the issues that are important to their lives."

"Are you surprised that the Vice President hasn't locked up the nomination yet? Sitting Vice Presidents usually go into their primaries as practically the presumptive nominees of their party."

"It's still early in the process. We aren't even to Super Tuesday yet. But we are absolutely confident that Vice President Russell will be the Democratic nominee, and will be the next President of the United States."

"Polls show former Vice President John Hoynes favored here in North Carolina."

"The fact that he's the _former_ Vice President should tell you something."

"Are you suggesting that the circumstances under which he left office should disqualify him from becoming President?"

"No, of course he has every right to run. And voters will make their decision. But I think a lot of people will, with good reason, be very hesitant to vote for someone who has shown such a lack of trustworthiness."

"And what about Matt Santos? A lot of people are surprised at the way he seems to have beaten expectations. No one gave him much of a chance at first, but here he is, still in the race."

"Matt Santos strikes me as a very nice man who has nowhere near the experience necessary to be leader of the free world."

"He's served three terms in the House of Representatives."

_Yes._ They'd given her a perfect opening to use her line. "Claiming three House terms qualifies you to be President is like me saying I'm a foreign relations expert because I ordered Kung Pao last night."

"He also served in the US Marines. Do you think that gives him strength in the area of national defense?"

"He wasn't a military strategist, he was a pilot. Ask him about the overhead compartment, not about defense."

She hadn't rehearsed that last line. It had just come out. She felt a knot in her stomach, sensing instantly that she'd gone too far. From the way the reporter's jaw dropped, it was clear she thought so also.

"The overhead compartment? Ms. Moss, would you like to clarify-"

"Thank you. That's all." Donna quickly ended the interview, fearful of doing any more damage. She turned and began to walk in the other direction, but froze in her tracks when she saw Josh staring at her. She could tell he'd heard her exchange with the reporter. He looked horrified.

"What happened to you?" he muttered coldly as he walked past her. She felt her face start to turn red.

"Josh-" she turned and caught up with him.

"Forget it."

"What happened to me?" She stepped in front of him so he'd have to stop walking and look at her. She did her best to keep her voice down and not look upset, so as not to attract the attention of any of the media in the room. "Well, I don't know, could it be that I'm working on a Presidential campaign now? I'd love to be the sweet, innocent little Donna who answered your phones and did your typing, but this is politics, and as you've told me more times than I can count, it's a dirty business and you sometimes have to go negative."

"Not by attacking your opponent's military service, Donna."

"I didn't-"

"Yeah, whatever." With that, he turned and walked away.

Donna started shaking. She turned and walked as quickly as she could to the women's restroom, managing to get into a stall and close the door before the tears started running down her face.

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Any hope Donna may have had that her remark would blow over and go unnoticed by the media was dashed when she and the Vice President watched coverage of the event from the small television screen in their limo on the ride back to campaign headquarters.

"_A bit of controversy is brewing here today over remarks by Russell campaign aide Donna Moss, which many are interpreting as belittling the military service of candidate Matt Santos." _

She cringed as they played the footage of her making the incriminating remarks.

"Mr. Vice President, I'm so sorry," Donna groaned.

"I'm not." He sounded upbeat.

She looked up at him in surprise. "You're not?"

"You did your job. You've gotten people talking about whether Matt Santos has enough experience to be President."

"Yeah, and I also managed to highlight his military background for every voter in the country."

"Well, that's also true," the Vice President conceded with a grimace.

They turned their attention back to the television. Matt Santos was now being interviewed.

"_Congressman Santos, do you have a reaction to the remarks today by Donna Moss of the Russell campaign regarding your military experience?"_

"_I haven't heard the remarks, so no, I don't."_

"_She said, and I quote: 'He wasn't a military strategist, he was a pilot. Ask him about the overhead compartment, not about defense.'"_

"_That's clever," he said with a smile and no hint of sarcasm._

"_You're not offended, as a Marine?"_

"_Look, I have nothing but respect for all the candidates in the Democratic field. And with the critical issues facing the country – our education crisis, health care, national security – I don't have time to get offended by stuff like this."_

"Good answer," Donna muttered in dismay. She supposed it was wrong of her to have hoped Santos would trash her on television, preventing him from being seen as taking the high road. In sharp contrast to the low road she had taken.

"Yeah, I'll give him that," the Vice President nodded.

The motorcade pulled up in front of the campaign headquarters. As they got out, she saw Will striding toward them, holding a piece of paper.

"Don't worry, I'm going to issue an apology right away," Donna told him before he could say a word.

"No. Don't."

"Don't apologize?" She looked at him in surprise.

"Absolutely not," he told her as they walked together into the headquarters.

"Will, the campaign can't be seen as disrespecting military service."

"We're not going to be intimidated. We're not going to act like typical Democrats on this one."

"What do you mean?"

"Do you know why Democrats have such a knack for losing elections? Because we cower at the first hint of controversy. We say something hard-hitting and we get attacked for it – or half the time we get a bunch of phony outrage thrown at us over something we _didn't_ even say – and then, rather than stand our ground, we go on the defensive, issue apologies and clarifications, and beg people 'please don't be mad at us.' No, we're going to act like Republicans. We're going on offense."

"What are we going to do?"

"Here's the statement I'm faxing to the press." He handed her the paper he was holding, which read:

_It is outrageous for the Santos campaign to twist Donna Moss's words in order to smear both her and the Vice President by suggesting that they have anything but the deepest of respect and admiration for all members of our armed forces. This is not about military service. Matt Santos is running for President, and voters have every right to question whether or not he's qualified to serve as Commander in Chief. _

"This story isn't coming from the Santos campaign," Donna objected. "The media ran with it all on their own."

"We blame Santos for it anyway. No one's very likely to call us on it, and if they do, we just say we believe the Santos campaign is pushing the story behind the scenes."

"Do we believe that?"

"Who knows? It's entirely possible."

"Will, this isn't right. People thought my remarks were out of line because they _were_ out of line. We don't need to spin this. I'll issue an apology, and it'll be a one-day story."

"We go on the counterattack, and we might actually gain ground as a result of this."

She stopped walking and turned to look at him, holding up the paper. "I don't want to issue this statement, Will. What I said was wrong. It wasn't Matt Santos' fault, or the media's fault, it was my fault. I want to do the decent thing and apologize."

Will took the paper from her. "Donna, I don't put my foot down very often, but I'm the campaign manager, not you, and what I say goes. You're not apologizing, and that's it. This statement is going out to the press right now."

Donna knew when it was pointless to argue any further. She sighed and changed the subject. "Well, I guess there go my chances of becoming campaign spokesperson, huh?"

"Not at all." Will shook his head. "I mean, we probably wouldn't make it official until this dies down, and I'm still considering some other roles for you also. But you did exactly what I asked today, Donna. My main hesitation with making you our spokesperson was that I wasn't sure you could be mean enough. Now I know you can be."

"Great," Donna muttered. She knew Will had meant that as a compliment, but somehow it didn't feel like one.

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

"_What do you think the fallout will be for the Russell campaign from – I don't know, can we call it overhead compartment-gate?" The CNN anchor asked his guest, someone who had the title of "political strategist." _

"Overhead compartment-gate," Donna muttered, taking some Advil and laying down on her hotel bed late that evening.

"_It's hard to say," the strategist responded. "They certainly went on offense tonight with their statement blaming the Santos campaign for the whole controversy. If this were an isolated incident, it might blow over. But there is a perception by many that the Russell campaign is becoming extraordinarily negative, much more than is usually considered acceptable in a primary campaign. You'll remember, in New Hampshire they had an ad that all but questioned John Hoynes' loyalty to the United States. And these are fellow Democrats they're saying these things about. It certainly could have the potential to alienate a lot of voters."_

"_And almost going unnoticed in this," the anchor commented, "is Donna Moss's other remark, suggesting that three terms in the House of Representatives would no more prepare a person to be President than ordering Kung Pao chicken would prepare someone to be a foreign relations expert. Are you surprised that isn't generating more controversy? Is it just because it was overshadowed by the other remark?"_

"_I think so," the strategist responded. "And, well, I guess insulting members of congress isn't as offensive to most people as insulting military personnel."_

_The anchor laughed. "Well, I'm sure you're right about that."_

Donna turned off the TV. She couldn't take any more of the talking heads, at least not tonight. She wasn't proud of what she'd said, but she was even more frustrated with her own campaign's reaction. What would be so wrong with a simple apology? But no, both Will and the Vice President seemed almost happy about her "gaffe".

And Josh – the look on his face after he'd heard her remarks haunted her. It wasn't anger – she could handle Josh being angry. It was disappointment, almost grief. She was sure his opinion of her had dropped, and that broke her heart.

_What right does he have to judge me, anyway?_ She felt a twinge of anger. _It's not like he's Mister Clean Campaigner himself. How many hardball political moves has he pulled over the years? So it's okay for him, but not for anyone else?_

"I hate politics," she muttered aloud. As she closed her eyes and tried to get some sleep, it occurred to her that the only person whose behavior that day had been the least bit classy was Matt Santos.


	6. Chapter 6

_When Russell is President, he'd better also end up with a few more Democrats in Congress to have his back,_ Donna thought, seething, as she plopped down on the sofa in the Vice President's office on the Hill. She couldn't believe what had just happened. The Vice President had stepped off the campaign trail to come to DC and lobby against a bill eliminating stem cell research funding – even though he couldn't even vote on it himself – and what had happened? The Republican Speaker of the House had seen how many Democrats were back in town, and pulled the vote. He would wait until the Democrats had left town to put the bill up for a vote. What a cheap stunt. Forget whether or not a majority of the nation's elected representatives favored a bill – clearly that didn't matter. What was the point of even having a vote if the Speaker could wait until opposition congress members were out of town before holding it?

She sighed and rubbed her eyes. She was exhausted. She'd barely slept the previous night. And she didn't have anywhere to be until the next morning. Maybe she could go home and actually sleep in her apartment for once. _Or maybe I'll just take a quick nap here, and then go somewhere for dinner,_ she decided. She got up, turned off the lights in the office, and then laid down on the sofa to sleep.

She didn't know how long she'd been asleep when suddenly there was someone on top of her. Panic coursed through her body, and she let out a long scream. She threw her arms out to push the person away, felt her hand hit something, and heard a crash.

"I'm sorry, I'm sorry," she could hear a male voice saying as he got off of her. The voice sounded vaguely familiar, but between her grogginess and the adrenaline, she couldn't quite place it.

That thing she'd knocked over – she was pretty sure it was a lamp. She reached over to the end table, got her hands around it, and turned it on. She turned to see Matt Santos kneeling by the sofa, looking almost as shaken as she was.

"I'm sorry," he repeated.

She slowly got her bearings and realized he must have accidentally sat on her, having not been able to see her lying on the sofa with all the lights turned off. What he was doing in the Vice President's office at this hour was another question. Speaking of which, what time was it, anyway? She sat up on the couch and glanced at her watch. "I didn't plan on…oh, I crashed…"

"Hey, you're Russell's chicken fighter!" he declared, recognizing her.

She rolled her eyes. _Great, just want I always wanted to be known as._"Donna Moss," she introduced herself. "You're Matt Santos."

"I'm running for President. And I haven't shaken your hand yet," he said as he extended his hand.

"Okay, assuming I'm not in some state of deep REM hallucination…"

"I'm hiding out. We're trying to outsmart the speaker." He explained his plan to her, which involved Democratic congress members hiding in the Vice President's office and making the Speaker think they'd left town, so he would hold the vote. Donna had to admit it was ingenious. Almost as sneaky as the stunt the Speaker had pulled.

"Does the Vice President know you're here?" She had to remember that she worked for this man's political opponent.

"This is not for the Santos campaign. It's for the President. I bet you're a fan?"

She hesitated only a moment. She knew that when you were a Presidential candidate, everything you did was political, and if Santos got credit for saving stem cell funding, it could certainly help his campaign. But the Vice President wanted the bill defeated also. What was he going to do, forbid them from using his office? She decided to leave the issue alone.

"You're not going to try it's for stem cells everywhere, are you?" she joked.

Matt sat down on the sofa next to her, appearing to settle in for what was likely to be a long night. "The others will be along as soon as they can start sneaking them up here."

"Well, if there's anything I can do to help…" Donna offered.

"If you'd really like to, we can always use another lookout in the halls. If anyone asks why you're here, you can just tell them you're getting some work done in the Vice President's office."

Donna nodded in agreement. She found herself beginning to get excited about the plan. After all the stress and negativity of the campaign trail lately, it would feel good to be a part of something that could actually make an unambiguously positive difference in the world.

She and the congressman sat in silence for awhile. Finally he spoke.

"You know…in the Marines, they taught us a lot of things, but I don't actually remember learning all that much about overhead compartments."

Donna looked at the ground in embarrassment. "I shouldn't have said that. I apologize. I just got carried away. I never meant to demean your service to our country."

"It's okay. The campaign trail – it's crazy, you know? The 'win at all costs' mentality. It makes good people say and do things they ordinarily never would."

"It shouldn't be like that," Donna found herself saying. "I mean, I'm not naïve – well, okay, I'm a little naïve, but still I know that political attacks have been a part of every campaign in probably forever. I guess because pollsters tell us that negative campaigning works, and that's all that matters. But we're choosing someone to be leader of the free world. Shouldn't our elections be about who has the best ideas, the best leadership skills, the best character? And by character, I don't mean 'did you ever smoke pot in college', I mean when push comes to shove do you have the strength to do what's right even in the face of enormous pressure to do otherwise?"

_Where did that come from?_ She wondered. As if she was really in a position to lecture anyone about negative campaigning, anyway.

"I couldn't agree more," Matt responded, his voice quiet but impassioned. "It's exactly what I keep trying to tell Josh – my campaign manager, I think you know him."

She nodded in confirmation, and Matt continued: "And then he tells me we didn't make the rules, but we have to play by them if I'm going to have any chance of getting elected. I don't know, maybe he's right."

Donna took a deep breath. "Josh is very good at what he does. But let me tell you something, Congressman. The reason you've come as far as you have, from near obscurity, isn't because of any brilliant political strategy. It's because of you. Your energy, your idealism, your charisma – that's what draws people in. They're hungry for it, and they're responding to it. I may work for your opponent, but believe me, I can see it too. And it doesn't hurt that you're good looking, either," she added with a smile.

"Well, I'll take that compliment whenever I can get it." He smiled modestly.

Donna turned serious again. "I hope you don't lose that. Whatever happens on the campaign trail, I hope you don't give up on trying to inspire people and bring out the best in them. Well," she laughed quietly, "I guess for the Vice President's sake, I should hope you do give up on it and decide to become just another politician, but I don't."

_Just another politician._ The words echoed uncomfortably in her mind. Had she been referring to the Vice President?

"Man, I wish you were on our team," Matt shook his head. "Between you and Josh, I think we'd be unbeatable."

Donna closed her eyes. She wished she didn't love that image so much: she and Josh, working side by side again, trying to get Matt Santos elected President. For a fleeting moment, she seriously considered defecting to the Santos campaign right then and there. But she forced herself to snap back to reality.

"Yeah, I'm sure Josh would love that."

"Are you kidding? He'd be over the moon. I mean, he might not admit it right away, but he would be. Let me tell you, you've gotten under that guy's skin in a big way. Whenever you're on TV, he just stares at the screen, transfixed."

"Transfixed in a good way, or transfixed with rage?"

Matt laughed. "Well, maybe a little of both. But definitely transfixed."

"Good to know, I guess."

"Anyway," Matt shifted the direction of the conversation. "Vice President Russell is a good man. I worked with him a lot when he was in the House. I can understand what you see in him."

"Yeah, he's great." Donna's voice was so flat and unconvincing, almost sarcastic, that it surprised even her.

Matt looked at her curiously. "Don't you think so?"

"Yes, of course. I mean, I don't know." She couldn't believe she was saying this to anyone, let alone Matt Santos. But against her better judgment, she continued: "Back in Iowa, a reporter asked me why Bob Russell should be President. I couldn't come up with a coherent answer. I ended up saying 'he's a good Democrat', which didn't go over too well."

"Talking to the media can be hard."

"Yes, but it was more than that. The reason I couldn't come up with a coherent answer is because I didn't have one. Why should he be President? Other than because he's a Democrat and so am I? I couldn't come up with one good reason. Now, if someone were to ask me why you should be the next President…"

Matt stared at her. Had she just said what he thought she had? "Are you thinking of leaving the campaign?"

"No. Yes. No, definitely not." Donna concluded. "And if you repeat what I just said, I'll deny it on a stack of Bibles. You're not wearing a wire, are you?" She suddenly felt sick as she realized how damaging her words would be if they ever got out. _One would think I'd know better than this by now,_ she scolded herself miserably.

"No," he laughed. "And don't worry, none of this leaves this room."

For some reason, she believed him. "Thanks."

"But anyway, you must have seen something good in the Vice President in order to have joined his campaign in the first place," he ventured.

She sighed. "I'm not sure it was so much about him as it was about…well, it's a long story."

"I have all night. Literally."

"Okay," she managed a smile. "Well…as I'm sure you know, last spring I was injured in the attack on the CODEL in Gaza."

Matt nodded somberly. "I prayed for you every day while you were in the hospital."

"You did?" She couldn't help but be a little surprised by that. Of course, it had been a major news story, and she knew she'd been prayed for by many people who didn't even know her, but it was still strange to hear about.

He nodded. She saw the look of sadness on his face and remembered that he had lost two colleagues in the attack. She chastised herself for being so self-absorbed. "Were you close to Congressmen Korb and DeSantos?"

"We got along well. That was a hard day in the House of Representatives."

"I'm sorry."

She was quiet for a moment, and then took a deep breath and continued. "Anyway, after the bombing – well, even before that really, but especially afterwards, I knew I needed to make a change in my life. I liked going to work because I liked being around – I liked the people I worked with. But I wasn't being challenged. I didn't see any real chance for growth in the position I was in, and besides, it wasn't like that job was even going to be around all that much longer, anyway. And I thought it made sense to go work for the Vice President, who might well be the next President of the United States. So I quit."

Matt nodded.

Donna sighed miserably. "But I did it all wrong. Josh and I had known each other for so long. I meant to have a long conversation with him, thank him for all he'd done for me, make him understand why I needed to move on, and maintain our friendship. But things kept getting busy, and he kept rescheduling our talk. Not that that's an excuse. It's always busy at the White House, and I could have insisted that he make the time if I'd really tried. But I think truth be known I was so nervous about it that I let him keep putting it off, and then – I just left, no notice or anything. Literally, 'oh, by the way, I quit.' I didn't even really say goodbye. I think he actually thought I was joking until the next day when he saw the temp at my desk – well, I'm sure Josh has probably told you the story."

"Yeah, he may have mentioned it once or twice."

"I wanted career advancement so much. But now I've been asking myself why I wanted it. Was it just to get a bigger paycheck and a more prestigious job title? Or was it to do work that matters, work that will make a difference in the world? And if it's the latter, is that what I've actually been doing? I don't know. I'm not sure I'm very good at this whole self-improvement thing. I decide I need to quit my job, and I end up acting like an irresponsible teenager when I do. And now I have this fantastic job, a job that people would kill for, working on a Presidential campaign that I'm not sure I believe in." She paused. "You must think I'm a complete mess."

Matt shook his head. "Six months ago, I fully intended to leave congress when my term expired, go back home to Houston, open health clinics, and spend lots of time with my kids – a plan that my wife was pretty happy about, by the way. Then Josh showed up at my doorstep with this crazy idea about running for President, and I don't know – it sounded right. So now, here I am. I hardly ever get to see my kids these days, not to mention my wife. I think I made the right decision, but not a day goes by that I don't worry about what price my children are paying for this – I guess it can only be called an exercise in hubris? – of running for President." He paused for a moment. "I guess my point is that the path to self-improvement, or whatever you want to call it, isn't easy. If you don't make a lot of mistakes, you're probably not really trying. The right choices aren't always clear." Then he let out a laugh. "It must be getting late. I think I'm starting to sound like Oprah."

"You watch Oprah?"

"Well, actually I don't, but you know – what I imagine Oprah would sound like."

Donna giggled. "No, too late to backtrack! I'm getting the press release ready now: _Matt Santos never misses an episode of Oprah!_ What'll that do to your manly image, huh?"

"I have a manly image?"

They were both startled by a knock at the door.

"I think our company is starting to arrive," Matt got up from the sofa and started toward the door.

Donna nodded and followed him. "Well, I'm glad I got to talk to you a little bit – you know, before this place turns into a zoo. I just hope you don't think I'm too much of a nutcase."

"Not at all. Ms. Moss?"

"Please. Donna."

He turned to look at her. "I was serious about what I said before. Just say the word, and there's a place for you on my campaign."

"Thanks, I – well, thanks." She knew she wouldn't take him up on it – well, she was pretty sure she wouldn't – but somehow she wasn't ready to turn it down quite yet.

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Donna glanced at her watch. It was a little past midnight. The Vice President's office was full of sleeping House members. Matt Santos, however, was awake and speaking quietly with a young congressman from Arkansas who wasn't yet sold on the ethics of stem cell research. Their conversation had been going on for well over an hour now.

"If it's a moral call, and I agree, it is," she heard Congressman Santos say, "What about the morality of dragging our heels when we could be alleviating suffering?"

She almost wished she could pull up a chair and watch, although she supposed that would look a bit strange. She was beyond impressed with Matt Santos. And not just because he was so persuasive in explaining his support of stem cell research, or because he was working so hard to lobby the Arkansas congressman. When the young congressman had told the other Democrats that he thought he might support the Speaker's position on the bill, most of them had been ready to boo him out of the room. But Congressman Santos had asked the Arkansas congressman to elaborate on his concerns about stem cell research. He had engaged him in an intense but respectful dialogue about the issue, a discussion which the two men were continuing into the night. As she listened to him talk, she couldn't help but think that Matt Santos sounded like a leader, someone with strong convictions who could still listen carefully and honestly to those with opposing viewpoints.

He sounded like a President.


	7. Chapter 7

"I really need to talk to you," Donna told CJ over the phone. It was the next day, and the stem cell stunt had just been successful. The Speaker had called the vote. The look on his face when the group of Democratic House members had marched down the halls to vote had been priceless – Donna had almost wished she'd had a camera.

But she knew she needed someone neutral to help her work through her confused feelings, and she couldn't think of anyone better than CJ. "I know this may be asking a lot, but is there any chance you could spare any time today?"

"I'm free for lunch," CJ offered. "Do you want to meet somewhere?"

"I need to talk to you somewhere where there's no chance of me being overheard by anyone."

"Okay. Well, why don't you bring some salads to my office then?"

"Sure."

A few hours later, Donna walked toward CJ's office carrying a bag with two to-go chicken caesar salads. She felt a wave of mixed emotions as she walked through the halls, particularly as she passed the area where her desk and Josh's office used to be. On one hand, she felt proud of herself. In just a few months, she'd gone from doing secretarial work to helping run a Presidential campaign. But knew she'd be lying if she said a part of her didn't miss this place. The grandeur of the White House. The great people she'd gotten to be around every day. Her easy banter with Josh…

_I have to stop thinking about him,_ she scolded herself.

"Donna!" CJ approached her with a smile and gave her a hug. "It's so good to see you. Come on in."

"So what's up?" CJ asked as they sat down and got the salads out of the bag.

"Well, I'm sure you've heard all about the stem cell bill."

"That was _awesome,"_ CJ nodded and grinned. "It's that kind of thing that makes me love being in politics."

"I know," Donna smiled back. Then she took a deep breath. "I actually got to help out with it -- being a lookout, bringing them food, that kind of thing, while they were hiding out. Sort of by accident. I happened to be in the VP's office when Matt Santos showed up. I got to talk to him alone for awhile before everybody else came."

"Must have been interesting."

"It was. He's a really nice guy, CJ."

"He seems like it."

"I think he'd be a good President."

"I think so too." CJ paused, wondering what Donna was getting at. "But I'm sure Russell would be a good President also."

"I think Santos would be a better President than Russell." Donna got the words out quickly, before she could chicken out.

CJ stared at her. "Donna…"

"He offered me a spot on his campaign last night."

"Santos did?"

"Yes."

"And did you take it?" CJ was still trying to absorb what Donna was saying.

"No. And I'm not going to. At least I don't think so. But I'm confused. I mean, can I keep working for the Vice President if a part of me is rooting for his opponent?"

CJ took a deep breath. "Donna – and this is coming from the part of me that feels protective of you and wants to see you succeed – I think Vice President Russell is going to be the Democratic nominee. I mean, don't get me wrong, Santos has come farther than I ever expected. He's impressive. If God forbid, Russell loses in the general, I wouldn't be surprised if Santos is our nominee in four years. But if you're asking me to advise you to give up everything to join a campaign that, let's face it, more than likely won't be around this time next month-"

"So I should just think about my own selfish career goals, then."

"It's not selfish to care about your career, Donna."

"I know, but…"

"Look, I guess it just depends on how strongly you feel about this. If you truly don't think you can support Russell's presidential bid anymore…"

"It's not that. I don't think Russell would be a bad President. But I don't think he'd be a great one. I think Santos could be a great President."

"The other thing I think," CJ continued, "is that at this point in the race, you jumping ship to join the Santos campaign would be a huge political embarrassment to the Russell campaign. The Vice President and his campaign have done a lot for you, and I don't know, it seems like it might be a little disloyal…" her voice broke off, and she went in another direction. "And besides that, as I said, I don't think Santos has a chance to be our nominee. Your defecting would be a coup for him, no doubt, but it wouldn't save the campaign. So in the end, you would have done political damage to the man who I assume you'll want to win in the general election."

_Disloyal._ The word hit Donna like a ton of bricks.

"I'm sorry, Donna," CJ backtracked a little bit as she saw the stung look on Donna's face. "I know it's a tough situation. And I can't tell you what to do. I guess if you don't think you can effectively represent Russell's campaign any longer, then maybe you do need to resign."

"I don't want to be disloyal," Donna said quietly. "And it's not like I have anything against the Vice President."

CJ was quiet for a minute. "I hope you don't get mad at me for asking, but this doesn't have anything to do with Josh, does it?"

"CJ, no! Do you really think my life revolves around him to that extent?"

"I had to ask."

"So CJ?"

"Yes?"

"Who are you voting for?" Donna looked at her curiously.

CJ shook her head. "Donna, I decided awhile ago that the best way for me to remain on good terms with both you and Josh was to keep that information confidential."

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

"I can't join your campaign." Donna stood in Matt Santos' congressional office later that day, shortly after her lunch with CJ.

"I understand," Matt nodded. "I appreciate the nice things you said about me yesterday anyway."

"No please, listen. I want to explain why."

"You don't owe me any explanation. Honestly, I didn't really expect that you would. It was just sort of a pipe dream."

"I know, but I want to explain. I don't want you to think it's just for my own selfish career advancement." She wasn't sure why she cared what Matt Santos thought of her, but she did.

"I didn't think that. And even if it was, there's nothing wrong with career advancement."

"Hear me out." She took a deep breath. "I told you how I left my job with Josh. The only reason I'm where I am is because of him. When I met him on Bartlet's campaign, I was a confused college dropout looking for a sense of direction. He gave me a chance when he had no reason to. He even took me back after I left and went running back to my old boyfriend for awhile. And then after we won, he hired me for a job in the White House – the kind of job only a very few people ever get a chance to have. It's only because of the opportunities he gave me that I could ever even have been considered for my current position with the Russell campaign. And to just walk out the way I did, as if the job – not to mention our friendship – meant nothing to me…well, I've never really forgiven myself for that." She sighed. "I know I hurt him. At least I can pretty well imagine how devastated I would have been if the roles had been reversed. It was-" she took a deep breath. "It was disloyal."

"Donna, if you're this upset about this, I think you should really talk to Josh about it."

She shook her head. "I'm not finished. Now I'm working for the Russell campaign, and Will and the Vice President have done more for me than I could ever have asked. They've taken me to a whole new level in my career. Ten years ago, I never could have imagined I'd be where I am today. And while I owe a lot of that to Josh, I also owe a lot of it to Will."

"And to yourself," Matt broke in. "We all have people who help us in our careers, but you wouldn't be where you are if you weren't so talented and hardworking."

She smiled. "Thanks. But my point is, I don't want to make the same mistake twice. I don't want to be disloyal to the Russell campaign now. I don't want to be the kind of person who gets what she wants by stepping all over the people who helped her as soon as she doesn't need them anymore."

Matt looked at her for a moment. "You're a really nice person, you know that?"

"Thanks. Can I ask one favor?"

"Sure."

"Please don't tell Josh I ever considered – well, don't tell him anything. I'd really appreciate it."

"I meant what I said last night. Nothing you said leaves that room."

"Thanks."

They were interrupted by the door to the office bursting open. Donna felt her heart drop as she watched Josh run up to Matt.

"You are the man! You should see the media coverage. You're all over the news. And they're ALL giving you all the credit for saving stem cell funding. This is awesome. It's beyond awesome. I bet we pick up five points minimum from this. Congressman, THIS is why I wanted you to run for President. Because you know how to do stuff like this!"

He stopped short when he saw Donna standing in the office.

She swallowed. "Hi Josh."

"Hey Donna." He glanced between her and Matt. "What's going on?"

"Nothing. I was just-"

"Donna helped us out while we were hiding last night," Matt told him. "She helped sneak people up and kept an eye on what the Speaker was doing. She even brought us coffee and doughnuts."

"Really?" Josh glanced at Donna. "The only time you ever brought me coffee was when you thought I was about to get fired."

"Getting fired or saving stem cell funding – those are the two circumstances under which I serve coffee." She smiled nervously.

"Right."

She took a breath. "Well anyway, I was just leaving. Congressman, it was great working with you on your brilliant little scheme. Josh, nice seeing you." She turned and walked out the door.

"Donna!" she turned around when she heard Josh's voice calling her as she headed down the hall.

He walked toward her. "The Congressman says I should talk to you."

She froze. "About what?"

"I don't know, he wouldn't tell me. He just insisted I chase you down the hall."

She shrugged uncomfortably. "Your guess is as good as mine."

Josh was quiet for a moment. "Look, I was probably too hard on you at that Cake and Candidates thing. You're right, it was politics."

"No, you were right. I crossed the line."

"Yeah, well…I think the whole dust-up actually helped us, so maybe I should thank you."

"Glad to help." She rolled her eyes.

Donna looked at him for a moment. There was so much she wanted to say to him, but right then she just couldn't find the words.

"Well, I really should be going. I have to meet the Vice President in Atlanta later today." she finally said.

"Right." Josh nodded. "I have to get some work done also."

She nodded and headed down the hall.

"Donna." She heard Josh call her again, and turned and looked back at him.

He stared at her for a moment, as if he was trying to find the right words.

_Say it, Josh._ She found herself silently pleading with him. _I don't care if you yell at me or tell me you…whatever you need to say, just say it._ She could tell from his face that he had as many unresolved feelings about their relationship as she did, and she didn't think she could take much more of the awkward tension between them whenever they were in a room together. Awkward tension. With the person who had been her best friend for eight years. It wasn't right. One of them had to stop being too chicken to try and resolve the situation, but as much of an emotional roller coaster as she'd been on lately, she just didn't think she could be the one to do it.

Finally he shook his head. "Nothing. Never mind."

Her heart sank. "Okay." She turned and walked out the door.


	8. Chapter 8

"Not bad work, trying to get the press on the story of why Hoynes is still in New York," Will congratulated Donna as they sat in the New York hotel suite together, watching CNN. It was just days before Super Tuesday. Donna had been throwing herself into her work with the campaign, and doing her best not to think about Josh, Matt Santos, overhead compartments, or anything else that might distract her. Hoynes had planned a California trip before Super Tuesday, but Donna had noticed that his campaign seemed to be delaying the trip. She'd pushed the media to investigate why, figuring that he was probably trying to trick the Russell campaign into canceling their California visit. Hoynes had a substantial lead in the polls in California, as well as the endorsement of the governor, and if they thought he'd also be campaigning there right before Super Tuesday…

"Yeah, he thinks he's so clever," she laughed. "But still, I'm not totally convinced it's the best use of our time for us to go down there. Hoynes has California locked up regardless of whether-"

She stopped talking and they turned their attention to the TV when the "Breaking News" banner flashed across the screen.

"Breaking news," Will scoffed. "I swear, they throw that banner up for any-"

His voice broke off when a picture of John Hoynes came up on the screen.

"_Former Vice President John Hoynes' presidential campaign is being rocked today by allegations that he made inappropriate sexual advances towards a young female staffer when he served in the US Senate," the news anchor began. _

"Oh. My. God." Will managed to get out.

Donna just sat there, dumbfounded, trying to absorb what this meant for the campaign.

"I guess it's a two-man race now," she observed.

"Who's the second man?" Will demanded. His voice was almost shaking. "Santos will be done after Tuesday. Hoynes is finished. Donna, Bob Russell is now the presumptive Democratic nominee for President of the United States."

They were interrupted as several other campaign staffers who had just heard the news burst into the room.

"Anyone got champagne?" Will called out.

"I'll get some!" A staffer responded.

"No popping champagne corks yet, Will." Donna told him, her voice unusually firm.

"Why not?"

"We haven't won anything yet."

"Donna-"

"You're right, Hoynes is probably done, but Santos is still in the race, and listen," she added, seeing that he was about to cut her off. "You have underestimated Matt Santos every step of the way. Ever since the day he announced you've been telling me that his campaign is finished, that he has no chance, that it's a waste of Josh's time to even be running his campaign, but guess what? He's still here. And where are all of Hoynes' supporters going to go if he drops out of the race? Do you really think it'll be to the Vice President? Most of them were for Hoynes at least partly because he was anyone-but-Russell, you told me so yourself. Will, Bob Russell isn't the presumptive nominee for anything. This is a wide open race now."

Will looked at her, the euphoria beginning to drain from his body. He knew instantly she was right.

"Okay, everyone, calm down," he announced to the room. "We can't get overconfident. Donna just made the excellent point to me that it may not be to our advantage to have Hoynes out. We have to make sure his supporters don't go to Santos. So get packed, everyone, we're heading out to California now."

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

"You're a guy, maybe you can help me understand something," Donna said to Will as they packed up the hotel room to head to California. "Why do powerful men risk everything for meaningless sex?"

"It's not just men. Women cheat too, you know."

"Sure, but it's men you always hear about getting caught having one night-stands, or with mistresses, or hookers, or whatever. Maybe that's just because there still are more high-level men than women in politics, who knows? But anyway, why do these otherwise smart men, who have worked their whole lives to get where they are, who have poured their blood, sweat, and tears into winning elections, risk it all over sex? It's not like they don't know they could get caught. They've seen all the countless political careers ruined overnight because of a sex scandal. But they do it anyway."

"Men like sex," Will concluded with a shrug.

"And what's so wrong with having sex with their wives?"

"I don't know. People who run for office tend to have big egos, I suppose. And men with big egos like it when women feed those egos."

"Great. You guys really are animals, huh?"

"Well not all of us! You can't blame every single male for the fact that John Hoynes can't seem to keep his pants zipped."

"Sure I can," Donna gave him a smile as they headed out the hotel room on their way to the airport.

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

"I'm sorry your name is in these stories," the Vice President said to Donna on the airplane on the way to California. "I realize you had no idea what this was about."

"Yes, sir." Donna nodded in appreciation. It did bother her a little bit that the media outlets all thought she had known about the story, and that had been why she'd pushed the question of why Hoynes wasn't going to California – that reason now appearing to be that he'd been staying in New York trying to keep the story from breaking. She'd already gotten a reputation as a bit of an "attack dog" following overhead compartment-gate (she'd given up trying to keep that name from sticking). Now half of the press thought her central role in the campaign was to dig up dirt on rivals.

Not that she didn't think the story was fair game. When Hoynes had put himself out there as the "family values" Democrat, she'd found it irritating, but she'd figured he was just trying to compensate for his known indiscretions. She'd supposed maybe it was smart, if not exactly sincere. But for him to go around preaching morality to everyone else, all the time knowing there were other scandals in his past just waiting to come out? It made Donna wonder how many other women there were.

And what if he'd gotten the nomination? The Democrats were going to have a tough battle against Vinick in the fall anyway. But Hoynes had fought tooth and nail for his party's nomination, knowing there was at least one new sex scandal that could break about him at any time. Probably more than one. If he'd gotten the nomination and these allegations had come out in the general election, he could have destroyed whatever chances the Democrats had of holding onto the White House.

She sat back in her seat and dozed for awhile, until she was awakened by Will.

"Good news!" he announced.

"The governor is endorsing us?"

"No, not quite that good. But the Vice President got him to agree not to endorse Santos either. We should be okay."

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

"What the hell is going on?" Will demanded as they walked into the hotel lobby and caught a glimpse of the television in the lounge. The governor of California was standing at a podium. And Matt Santos was standing behind him.

"Don't tell me he's endorsing him after all," the Vice President fumed. "Damn it, he _promised_ me he was going to stay neutral…"

He stopped talking when a red crawler appeared beneath the picture. _"Breaking: Governor vetoes bill barring illegal immigrants from obtaining driver's licenses." _

"Wow," Will let out a breath. "And Santos is supporting him on that?" He didn't know whether that was good news or bad. The bill was fairly popular, and opposing it could cost Santos votes. On the other hand, a picture of him standing behind the governor right before the election…

"It may not be an endorsement, but it sure has the appearance of one," Donna commented with a frown.

"It's not worth the political hit of publicly supporting the veto," Will argued. "Californians want that bill. Santos is going to regret this."

"Desperation," the Vice President concluded. "He has nothing to lose. He needs a comeback on Super Tuesday, or he's finished."

"And don't kid yourself, it could work," Donna cautioned. "He's just managed to align himself with the governor. And as far as the bill goes -- you know, a lot of Democrats are with Santos on this one. A lot of them hated that bill. They'll be thrilled to see a candidate willing to take a bold stand like this. The base will fall in love with him."

"The base was already in love with him." Will responded. "And Democrats want someone who can win. They know the Republicans will use this against Santos in the fall if he's the nominee. It'll hurt him, I'm telling you."

Donna gave him a look. "Who are you trying to convince, exactly? Me, or yourself?"

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

"_As the polls close in California, our network is classifying the race there as 'too early to call'…" the news anchor announced. _

Donna and Will sat slumped in their chairs in the hotel suite where they were watching the Super Tuesday returns along with the Vice President and a number of campaign staff. Donna supposed they had no reason to be unhappy. They had already won New York and a number of other states. They had picked up a lot of delegates so far. But California was still very much in doubt.

"Even if we win, it'll be by the skin of our teeth," Will fretted. "It wasn't supposed to be close. The press will spin it as a victory for Santos no matter what."

"Yeah, but if we win, at least we get the delegates," Donna pointed out. "Momentum is nice, but I think we're getting to the point in the race where we need to start worrying about the Magic Number."

"2162," Will nodded.

An aide walked up to Will and somberly handed him a note. He read it, and then handed it to Donna without a word.

They had lost California.


	9. Chapter 9

"New Rasmussen Pennsylvania poll!" Will announced as he walked into their Pennsylvania field office. "We're dead even. 40-40. 9% Hoynes die-hards, and 11% undecided.

"Quinnipiac had Santos up 4 today," Donna countered.

"Ahh, who cares. They have a pro-Santos bias."

"Oh I see, so you only trust the polls whose results you like."

"Sure. It's called cherrypicking."

"Yes, and when we do that when we're talking to the media, it's called spin. When we do it to ourselves, it's called denial."

"This is the big one, Donna. If we win Pennsylvania, it'll be a huge momentum shift in our direction. Santos will be way behind in delegates. There will be a lot of pressure on him to drop out and avoid the possibility of a brokered convention."

Donna nodded. There was just one week to go until the primary. Will sat down on a plush chair in the corner of the office to look through some papers, while Donna decided to check the internet blogs to keep up with what was being said about the campaigns.

She clicked on the bookmark to RussellisReady, a pro-Russell blog. Well, to be accurate, lately it had become more of an anti-Santos blog. They seemed to spend much more time trashing Santos than they did talking about Russell.

She had to read the posting at the top of the blog twice to fully absorb what it was saying.

"Will? You might want to come over here."

He walked up and read over her shoulder:

_Bombshell! Santos' opposition to the California driver's license bill just the tip of the iceberg." _The headline read.

The article continued: _RussellisReady has received information from several well-connected sources that a videotape exists of Matt Santos attending an immigration rights rally in New Mexico, approximately 10 years ago. According to our sources, Santos was proudly waving a Mexican flag and cheering boisterously as speaker after speaker denounced the United States in brutal and harsh terms. We have learned that the Republican National Committee has this videotape, and if Santos is the Democratic nominee, they will release the tape after the Democratic convention. Santos will be finished, and the Democrats will have handed the election to Arnold Vinick." _

"Oh my God," Will whispered, sitting down beside her. Was it really possible that both their remaining primary rivals were being done in by scandals?

"You think it's true?" Donna turned to look at him.

"It almost doesn't matter," Will shook his head. "I mean, believe me, I'm going to get our oppo researchers on it right away, trying to find this tape if it exists. But regardless, if Democrats in Pennsylvania think there's a chance that Santos could be torpedoed beyond repair in the general election, are they really going to risk voting for him?"

"He would have been mayor of Houston 10 years ago," Donna pointed out. "Do you really think he could have gotten away with going to a rally like that?"

"Maybe no one found out about it until now," Will shrugged. "Maybe that's why he went to a rally in another state. He figured he probably wouldn't be recognized in New Mexico."

"Maybe they're exaggerating about the speakers," Donna suggested. "Maybe they weren't really that bad. If the tape exists, that is."

"Regardless, that wouldn't explain the Mexican flag. Do you really think the United States would elect someone as President who's on videotape waving another country's flag?"

Donna hit "reload" on the website to see if there were any updates.

"_Breaking!" _The site now screamed. _"Santos camp refuses to deny existence of incriminating videotape! _Below the headline was a You Tube clip captioned: _A associate waits outside the door of the Santos campaign headquarters in Pennsylvania and corners campaign manager Josh Lyman. _

Donna played the video clip:

"_Mr. Lyman!" the female blogger rushed up to him as he walked out of the headquarters. He turned and looked at her. "I'm working on an investigative report. Is it true that a videotape exists of Matt Santos waving a Mexican flag and cheering as anti-American sentiments were expressed at an immigration rights rally in New Mexico ten years ago?"_

_Josh stared at the blogger for a second, looking stunned._

"_No questions. Thanks." He walked quickly toward his car, and then suddenly turned around._

"_Who are you with, anyway?" he asked the blogger._

"_I'm a representative from RussellisReady."_

_Josh's eyes narrowed, but he didn't say anything. He turned and got in his car._

"It's the first he's hearing of it," Donna observed.

"Yeah, he's not going to deny anything before he's had a chance to check it out." Will agreed.

"And then it's the classic dilemma. Do you deny the rumor and draw more attention to it, or say nothing and let people interpret that as a sign of guilt?"

"Lose-lose proposition," Will nodded.

Donna sighed, rubbing her eyes. She supposed for the sake of the Russell campaign, she should hope that the rumor was true and would soon be confirmed as such. But after having gotten to know and like Matt Santos – and also knowing how shattered Josh would be to have the campaign blow up in his face – she couldn't bring herself to hope for that. The whole thing felt ugly. It felt like a malicious rumor, one designed to play on racial fears and prejudices. _Will's right, it's the kind of rumor that doesn't have to be true to have its desired effect,_ she realized sadly. Just the fear that the tape _might_ exist could cost Santos the nomination. She wanted their campaign to win – on a professional level, if not necessarily in her heart – but she didn't want them to win like that.

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

"No real change in the Pennsylvania polls yet as a result of the videotape rumor," Will observed the next day, looking at his computer screen. "Morning Call tracking has Santos up two, no change from yesterday. We should have some internal numbers later today."

"I wouldn't expect there to be any effect yet," Donna commented. "Anyone reading was probably already voting for Russell."

"It's not just on RussellisReady anymore," Will told her. "They're talking about it on all the political blogs, including pro-Santos ones." He clicked on the bookmark to a popular liberal blog where probably at least 90% of the participants were Santos supporters.

"Look at this," he went to the "comments" section of an article about the videotape rumor and read aloud: _"I love Santos and it makes me sick to say this, but I don't think we can take a chance that this tape might actually exist. I don't even want to think about what will happen over the next four years if Republicans control both congress and the White House. We may really have to consider throwing our support to Russell. I know he's not perfect, but we need a Democrat who can get elected." _

"Yeah, and look at the response that guy got," Donna countered, continuing to read from the comments: _"'You are either a moron or a troll. So you're going to let the idiots at dictate who you vote for? This is a disgusting, racist hoax. If we fall for it, we're as bad as they are.' _And that's one of the more polite responses."

"Well, at least they're talking about it." Will pointed out.

"But undecided voters don't usually read political blogs. Unless it gets picked up by the mainstream media…"

"I sent a link to the blog story to all the major news outlets," Will told her.

"Will!" Donna chided him. She didn't like the idea of their campaign actively pushing the rumor.

"Donna, if it's true, people need to know about it," Will told her. "That guy on the blog is right. It's not just about Russell versus Santos anymore. If that tape is out there and Santos gets the nomination, Vinick will walk into the White House."

"_If_ it's true." Donna emphasized. "If it's not, we're participating in spreading a very ugly rumor about the first serious Latino presidential contender."

"So the fact that he's Latino should exempt him from being scrutinized?"

"Come on, Will, don't play dumb. You don't see the racial overtones here?"

He sighed. "If the whole thing is a lie, of course I do. But if he really did go to this rally, and someone got it on videotape, I don't care if it's politically incorrect, I want people to know about it. And if there's any doubt about whether the tape exists-"

"Which there is,"

"Then maybe it's fair for Democratic voters to err on the side of caution." Will concluded.

"So if some blogger claims there's a tape out there of Russell having sex with space aliens, who do we all vote for then?"

"Hey, that might actually help the Vice President's image," Will commented dryly.

"ha-ha," she rolled her eyes.

"Look, this guy said he had well-connected sources, Donna." He told her. "It's a major political blog. They want to maintain their credibility just like mainstream journalists do. People shouldn't ignore this."


	10. Chapter 10

"That was one of our best crowds yet," Donna observed as she and Will returned to the campaign headquarters that evening after a campaign rally in Pittsburgh. "I mean, we're still not matching Santos' crowds, but it seems like enthusiasm is growing, don't you think?"

"Yeah. I think the local news estimated the crowd at around 3000." Will nodded. "And hey – attracting crowds is Santos' thing. Young people like him, and they're the ones who are most likely to show up at campaign rallies. And, God forgive me for saying this, but let's face it – Santos is a much more exciting speaker than Bob Russell."

Donna laughed. "Yeah, just a little."

"But unfortunately for Santos, crowd size doesn't determine who wins the election," Will concluded. "Voters do that. And older voters are the ones who actually turn out at the polls."

Will's phone rang.

"Will Bailey," he answered as they walked. Suddenly he stopped walking and touched Donna's arm. "Yes, we're aware of the rumor…no….no, we don't have any comment…it's an independent blog, it's in no way affiliated with our campaign….as I said, no comment. No….So can I ask, are you planning on broadcasting the story?...okay….Thank you." He hung up the phone.

"That was someone from FIX News. They asked me about the videotape rumor," he announced, sounding almost giddy. "I think they're going to go with the story."

They walked into the office and turned the TV to FIX News – not usually their favorite cable news network, but they wanted to see if the story would be mentioned. The network was covering a Santos rally that would get be getting underway soon.

"Lot of people there, and it hasn't even started yet," Donna observed, looking at the images on the television. Not that she was an expert at estimating crowd size, but it looked like a whole lot more than 3000.

"_This just in," the FIX News anchor announced, "In a somewhat unusual move, Santos campaign manager Josh Lyman has let us know he will be taking questions from the press momentarily, before the rally gets underway." _

Donna and Will exchanged glances. If FIX News had called them for comment on the story, they had certainly also called the Santos campaign. Was Josh planning to respond publicly to the rumors now that it appeared a major cable news network was considering broadcasting them?

"_It will be interesting to see what Lyman has to say," the anchor continued. "There is an internet rumor – and we have to be careful what we say because so far we've found no independent evidence to support it, but there is a story being reported on a website called RussellisReady that a videotape exists and is in Republican hands which shows Matt Santos waving a Mexican flag and cheering anti-American sentiments at an immigration rights rally about ten years ago. According to the website, if Santos is the Democratic nominee, the RNC will release the videotape after the Democratic Convention in order to seriously damage him in the general election. Again, we have to emphasize that at this time this is only a rumor, but it certainly seems possible that Lyman might want to respond to that." _

Will let out a low whistle. "Well, if he wasn't planning on responding before, he is now."

Donna nodded with a grimace. "I think Josh's Blackberry might be getting thrown across the room right about now."

Within about five minutes, Josh's impromptu press conference had begun. He got several routine questions about the campaign, poll numbers, etc., before the question came:

"_Josh, a blog called RussellisReady claims to have sources that are telling them the Republican National Committee has a videotape of Matt Santos waving a Mexican flag at an immigration rights rally, and cheering as speakers at the rally denounced the United States. And we've actually just gotten word that the story has just been mentioned on a major cable news network, which takes it out of the realm of simply being an internet rumor. Can you confirm or deny that any such videotape exists, or whether one might exist?"_

"_The story is a lie," Josh cut in, his voice angry, almost before the reporter had finished asking the question. "The videotape does not exist because Matt Santos has never attended any such rally. He served in the Marines. He has risked his life in service to his country. He loves the United States of America as much as anybody I know. This is a cruel, racially charged rumor, and those who are spreading it should be ashamed." Josh was almost yelling by the time he finished._

Donna knew Josh well enough to know that this wasn't just a show for the cameras. He really was as angry as he sounded.

"He wouldn't have denied it so forcefully if he wasn't sure the tape didn't exist," she observed.

Will nodded in agreement.

"_Josh," came a follow-up question. "You were asked about the rumor yesterday by a blogger, and you declined to comment. Why was that? If the story is so obviously and unequivocally false, why did you need to wait a day and a half before you could deny it?" _

Josh was quiet for a minute, clearly trying to decide exactly how to answer the question.

"_You guys all know exactly why," he began. His voice was quieter, but no less angry. "Because I had to check it out first. I had to go to Congressman Santos, this man I deeply respect and admire, and grill him about whether he'd ever attended an anti-American rally. I had to see the hurt on his face when he realized his own campaign manager thought there was a chance the rumor might be true. And the reason I had to ask him about it wasn't because I had any doubt whatsoever about him, his character, or his patriotism. It was because as you all know, in politics you don't dare flatly deny anything until you're 100% sure you have all your ducks in a row. So just…just remember when hear these sensational rumors and you think you should put them on the air without any fact-checking, that there are actual human beings involved. Thank you all." _

The press conference over, he turned and headed toward some of the campaign staff who had been listening from a distance.

"Okay, so I think the rumor's not true," Will sighed.

"Disappointed?"

"A little," Will shrugged, not picking up on the slight sarcasm in Donna's voice.

Donna sat down at the computer and, out of curiosity, went to RussellisReady. Not surprisingly, they were standing by their story.

"_Josh Lyman's angry, defensive temper tantrum only proves he knows the tape is out there!" the site declared. "The Santos campaign is running scared. Our sources are standing by their information. Democrats, nominate Matt Santos at your own risk." _

She shook her head. "They'll never give up on it, will they?"

"Probably not," Will shrugged.

"_Ladies and gentlemen, the next President of the United States, Matt Santos!" _

Donna glanced back at the television and watched as Santos strode onto the stage to a rock star's greeting from the crowd. She knew the rumors had to be hurtful to him, but he gave no indication of it as he beamed at the crowd and began his stump speech.

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

"_And now, with polls having been closed in Pennsylvania for approximately two and a half hours, we are ready to make a projection. Congressman Matt Santos will carry the state of Pennsylvania and its 178 delegates in the race for the Democratic nomination for President of the United States..." _

Donna and Will sighed. They'd known this was probably coming for a few hours now. Based on the exit polls, it looked like the final margin would be somewhere around 3%. It had been close. But close didn't count. They were at a venue near Scranton where the Vice President would be addressing supporters shortly. When it had become clear that the news wouldn't be good, a lot of their volunteers and staff people had gone home for the night. Donna and Will were watching the returns quietly from a small room outside the main hall.

"_So what does the Santos victory mean for the Democratic race?" A news anchor asked the network's political consultant._

"_Well, look at this map of states that have yet to vote," the consultant pointed to a color-coded electronic map. "The states in light blue are states where Russell is favored to win. The states in dark blue are states where Santos is favored. The states in white are toss-ups, states where the race is too close to call. Even if either Santos or Russell were to win all of the states they're currently favored in, plus all of the toss-up states, they still wouldn't have enough delegates to secure the nomination. So unless either candidate can somehow manage to upset the other in several – and it would probably take several -- of his opponent's 'safe' states, it now looks very likely that the Democratic nomination will be decided at a brokered convention._

He wasn't saying anything that Donna and Will weren't well aware of.

"A brokered convention," Will shook his head. "You know, as a campaign manager, I wish it wasn't happening to us. As a Democrat, I wish it was happening to the Republicans. But as just a guy who's loved politics my whole life, I have to admit there's a part of me that thinks it's pretty damn exciting."

Donna looked at Will for a moment.

"You once made fun of Josh for taking up a lost cause like Matt Santos."

"Yeah, yeah, go ahead and throw that in my face the rest of my life. You're entitled."

"No – well, don't worry, I will, but that's not my point. My point is that when we all first heard about you, you were working on a campaign for a dead guy. Your candidate _died_ and you wouldn't quit. You said it was a 'campaign of ideas'."

Will nodded. That race for the California 47th seemed so long ago, even though it had only been a few years.

"What I'm asking is this," Donna drew a deep breath. "Is that what we're running now? A campaign of ideas? Or..."

"Did we just get behind the obvious choice for Jed Bartlet's successor because we figured he was practically the presumptive nominee?" Will finished her question.

"That's pretty much what I'm asking." She prayed he wouldn't think she was being disloyal to the campaign.

"I don't know, Donna. I mean, I tried to tell myself that Leo and the President wouldn't have picked Russell for Vice President if they didn't think he was Presidential material. But I know they also had to pick someone they could get an opposition congress to confirm. And yes, I wanted to help elect the next President, and I figured the Democratic nominee for that position was going to be Vice President Russell."

Donna hesitated for only a moment before asking her next question. "Do you ever feel like we're on the wrong side in this primary?"

"Only in my darker moments."

"Does it ever bother you?"

He shook his head. "Not really. At this point, I figure we fight like hell for Russell, Josh and his people fight like hell for Santos, and whichever one comes out on top…well, maybe that's the guy who will be most electable against Vinick in the fall."

Donna nodded. Maybe he was right. Maybe she'd been overthinking all of this. Santos had Josh on his team, which meant he had access to the best political advice he could want. It was their job to make sure Russell had the same advantage. Beyond that – well, it was simply in the hands of the voters. Or, more accurately at this point, in the hands of the convention delegates.


	11. Chapter 11

"With all due respect, sir, I'm not wild about the idea," Donna told the Vice President as they sat in his hotel suite in Washington, DC. They were there making preparations for the Democratic convention – now certain to be a brokered convention – which would get under way in California in a week.

"With all due respect, sir, I'm not wild about the idea," Donna told the Vice President as they sat in his hotel suite in Washington, DC. They were there making preparations for the Democratic convention – now certain to be a brokered convention – which would get under way in California in a week.

"Why not?" The Vice President responded. "We'd have instant party unity. And all those excited throngs of people at Santos' rallies would be working for us now."

"Those excited throngs of people want Matt Santos as President. Not Vice President."

"You really think they wouldn't support a ticket with his name on it? They know the Vice Presidency is about the best launching pad there is to the Presidency. We win and get re-elected, and eight years from now Matt Santos goes into the Democratic primary as essentially the presumptive nominee."

_Like you did, sir?_ It took all of Donna's restraint not to say that out loud.

"Do we even think Santos would accept?" she asked instead.

"He'd be insane not to," the Vice President responded. "This would be huge for him. Six months ago no one had ever heard of him and he was retiring from congress. Now we're about to offer him the Democratic nomination for Vice President of the United States?"

"He's smart, he's charismatic, I think he could do wonders for us." Will added.

"You want the charisma at the top of the ticket, not the bottom," Donna countered.

"So you're saying we should push for a Santos/Russell ticket instead?" Will asked dryly.

"Hey! I'm not sure I like the implication that I'm not charismatic," the Vice President put in, his voice only half-teasing.

"Also, you want your VP to be an attack dog." Donna argued. "And if there's one thing that Matt Santos is not…"

"He'd go on the attack if we told him to. It would be his job." The Vice President insisted.

"I'm not so sure he would," Donna shook her head. "And even if he did, it would be at the expense of his own 'brand'. People like him because he doesn't come across as just another politician. If he were to start behaving like one, he'd be giving up the very thing that's brought him this far. And thus give up any advantage that image would bring to our ticket."

"Will?" The Vice President looked at him for his opinion.

"I think we should do it," Will responded. "Donna's points are valid, but look at the alternative. A huge floor fight at the convention."

"We're up in the delegate count going in," Donna pointed out.

"Only by 78 delegates." Will reminded her. "Where do you think that's going to get us, exactly? Let's face it, Matt Santos generates an energy and enthusiasm that the Vice President – no offense, sir – just doesn't. He's perceived as having all the momentum. If we go into a free-for-all at the convention, I have to be honest, I'm not sure I like our chances."

"What about Eric Baker?" An idea suddenly came to Donna. The governor of Pennsylvania could be a perfect running mate. "Is there any chance he might take the Vice Presidency? He'd give us Pennsylvania on the second ballot. Other states too, I bet. And he'd be a huge asset going into the general election."

"Russell/Baker," Will mused. "I like that idea too. I don't know if he'd be interested, but if so…" he paused. "Mr. Vice President, why don't you set up a meeting with Baker? I'll take the Santos VP idea to Josh. If Santos says yes, we go with him. If not – well, maybe we can get Baker on board."

"Sounds like a plan." The Vice President nodded. "And what do you say we leak our discussions with Baker? Put more pressure on Santos to accept."

"Brilliant," Will nodded.

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Donna walked into the cocktail lounge at the hotel, and sat down on a plush chair to watch Republican VP nominee Ray Sullivan's acceptance speech at the Republican convention. Almost immediately, she noticed Josh sitting at the bar, his back to her. She wondered whether she should go up to him. He and Congressman Santos were still considering the VP offer. Maybe she should try to lobby him to accept? Or – should she push him to decline?

But Sullivan's acceptance speech soon pushed thoughts of the Democratic primary from her mind. At first she thought she was being paranoid, but it soon became clear that she wasn't. One reference after another to sickness, disease, etc. Her blood began to boil. How dare he?

She glanced at Josh. She could tell even from looking at back of his head that he was fuming.

"You're not going there. Tell me you're not going there." She heard him mutter.

She slowly got up and approached him. She wanted to commiserate with someone who would understand, and besides, it would be nice to be on the same page as Josh for the first time in months. Despite everything, one thing they still had in common was their affection for President Bartlet.

"Is he trying what I think he is?" she asked, standing next to him.

He glanced over at her. She tried to read his face to determine whether he was glad to see her.

"The MS. He's invoking the MS." Donna still couldn't believe he could be so brazen.

"This is gonna backfire," Josh predicted as Sullivan continued his line of attack.

"Maybe people won't get it," Donna suggested. She hoped they would, though. Josh was right. The Republicans could take a lot of heat for invoking the sitting President's illness for political gain.

"_so clogged with complications, it's positively sclerotic…" Sullivan pronounced. _

"Okay, they'll get that."

"You're going to Hell!" Josh shouted at the television, loudly enough for everyone in the room to hear him.

"Josh," She put a hand on his arm. "Let's sit over here."

She led him back to the chairs where she had been sitting.

"I realize the VP candidate's the designated hatchet man, but that's…" Josh's voice trailed off as he appeared to search for a strong enough word.

"If Santos accepts, you can get your revenge."

"Yeah, you think I might find five, or five hundred ways to call Vinick old? You want sclerotic, I'll give you sclerotic."

"Santos wouldn't do it."

"Probably not."

Despite their mutual anger at the Republicans, or maybe even because of it, Donna felt a warm feeling in her heart. This was the first time since she'd quit that she and Josh had talked, easily, with no tension between them. It almost felt like old times.

"Maybe why he shouldn't take the job," she suggested.

"Maybe why he'd be a great choice. Restore some civility."

"You want him to accept?"

"You don't," he realized, looking at her intently.

She and Josh began discussing the issue. It was clear that he shared every one of her concerns about a potential Russell/Santos ticket. She missed this. Talking with Josh about politics – and not as competitors, either. As friends.

He smiled. "How did you get so smart about this?"

She found herself beaming. The look of respect on Josh's face felt indescribably good. She realized how much she had wanted to hear him say something like that, to see her as someone who was more than just an assistant, even a "valuable" one.

"I had a good teacher," she gave him a warm smile.

He leaned back in his chair. "Thanks."

She kept smiling, but something about that suddenly rubbed her the wrong way. Was he taking credit for her success? She had been the one who did this, not him. Okay, so she'd been the one who'd said she'd had a great teacher, so it didn't really make sense for her to be mad at him, but still. She got up and walked away, but before she left, she found herself turning around and saying, "I meant Will."

She turned away again quickly, but not before she caught a glimpse of the stung look on Josh's face. She walked out the door and headed toward the elevators.

Why had she said that? Of course she had meant Josh. She'd said she had a good teacher, past tense. Will was still her boss, so unless she'd been implying that she'd already learned everything she could from him…

The hurt look on Josh's face was etched in her mind. She realized she might as well have slapped him. She might as well have told him that the eight years they'd spent together meant nothing to her, that she'd learned nothing, that it had just been a waste of her time. None of that was true. So why had she said it? Why had she hurt him for no reason?

_My main hesitation with making you our spokesperson was that I wasn't sure you could be mean enough. Now I know you can be._ Will's words from months ago echoed in her mind. What if this business of politics was affecting her in a way she didn't like? What if she really was becoming a mean person?

She wiped away a tear that had formed in her eye and walked toward her hotel room.

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

The door to the office opened, and Matt Santos strode out. Donna, Will, and Josh all looked up anxiously. Congressman Santos and the Vice President had just met to discuss the VP offer, but from the expressions on both their faces, it appeared it hadn't gone well.

"Thank you all. Josh," the congressman summoned his campaign manager, not slowing down as he walked toward the door.

Josh hastily got up and followed him out of the room, and Donna and Will turned to the Vice President.

"It's a no," he said simply.

Donna let out a breath. "So I guess we go with Baker then. That may be a better choice anyway."

"Yep, I think Santos blew it," Will agreed. "Once we get Baker on board, Pennsylvania's in our column, and who knows how many other Santos states will flip also. He's going to regret this day for a long time to come."

Donna nodded. She and Will said goodbye to the Vice President and walked out his office to head back to the hotel. She'd just spent the last 20 minutes sitting outside the VP's office, waiting to find out if her candidate was about to officially clinch the Democratic nomination, and all she'd been able to think about was Josh, sitting on the other side of the room. The tension had been almost unbearable. Josh wouldn't even look at her. He'd told a few bad jokes – bad enough to betray how tense he was – and when she'd attempted to speak to him…

"_Don't." _She shivered slightly as she remembered the way he'd cut her off before she could say a word. In the time they'd worked together, Josh had certainly been angry with her more than once. He'd yelled at her before. But she could never, ever remember him refusing to even speak to her.

Not that she could blame him after what she'd said.

"So what was wrong with Lyman in there?" Will asked as they walked. "Think he was pissed because he knew Santos was going to say no?"

"How should I know?" Donna shrugged. The last thing she wanted to talk about right then was Josh. She changed the subject. "So how sure are we that Baker will accept the VP offer?"

"The Vice President was optimistic about their meeting. That's all I know for sure."

"He decided not to run for President even though he probably would have been the front-runner. Why would he want the Vice Presidency now?"

"Who knows?" Will shrugged. "Maybe he regrets not going for it. Maybe he just really wants Russell to be our nominee instead of Santos."

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

That night, Donna headed down to the lounge. She needed to be by herself for awhile. It was late, and the lounge was nearly empty. She walked up to the bar and ordered a beer. As she did, she did a double take as she noticed Josh sitting at a table in the corner of the room, chewing on a pen and concentrating intently on his Blackberry. He didn't appear to have noticed her come in.

For a moment, she considered going over and talking to him, but quickly decided against it. What could she say? She had killed whatever chance they might have had of becoming friends again with three stupid words: "I meant Will."

She only took a few sips of her beer before deciding to leave. Josh still hadn't looked up from his Blackberry, and appeared oblivious to her presence, but she couldn't relax with him in the room.

As she walked out of the lounge, she couldn't help but be aware of two men who had been sitting at the bar following her.

"Hey there," one of the said, stepping in front of her once they were in the hallway. "Going back to your room?"

"Excuse me," Donna muttered, trying to go around him. His friend blocked her way. Both of them smelled strongly of alcohol.

"You looked lonely in there. Pretty girl like you shouldn't be sitting at a bar all by herself."

"Yeah, mind if we keep you company?" The other one touched her shoulder lightly. She jumped back, beginning to feel genuinely frightened.

"Please leave." Her voice was stern. She tried again to walk away from them, but they continued to circle her.

"Hey, hey, no need to be rude, sweetheart."

"Get lost, jackasses!" she yelled those last words, hoping someone would hear her.

"Oh look, we're making her mad. What? Was it something we said?"

"Jackasses, wow. Oh, that hurts. It's not nice to call names." He stepped closer to her threateningly.

"Hey!" another voice came from the direction of the lounge. "She said get lost."

Donna closed her eyes with relief when she saw Josh coming toward them.

"And who are you?" One of the men sneered at him. "Her boyfriend?"

"Yeah, if you're her boyfriend, why was she sitting all by herself in there?"

"I don't think you're a very good boyfriend."

"What the hell is wrong with you morons?" Josh stood between her and the two men. "A woman tells you to get lost, you get lost. Go sleep it off."

"Yeah, and who's going to make us? You?" One of them gave him a shove. Josh clenched his fists and his jaw line tightened, but he said nothing.

Donna's heart was pounding. If the confrontation became physical, both the men were substantially larger than Josh. And – a terrifying thought entered her mind – what if either of them had a weapon? If something happened to Josh because he'd tried to protect her...and after the way she'd treated him...

After what seemed like an eternity of tense silence, one of the men shook his head. "Pathetic losers."

He gave Josh another shove and walked away. His friend followed.

"Yeah, back at ya," Josh couldn't resist calling after them, to Donna's alarm. _Josh, they're leaving, why would you provoke them? _But the men appeared not to hear him as they disappeared down the hall.

She let out a long, shaky breath and touched Josh's arm. "Thanks."

He looked at her worriedly. "Are you okay?"

She nodded and walked over to a sofa in a nearby sitting area. Josh followed and sat next to her. Whether it was the scare she'd just had, the stress of the campaign, or just the kind expression on Josh's face – probably a little of all three – she suddenly found herself unable to fight back tears. She looked away from him and tried unsuccessfully to wipe them away before they slid down her cheeks.

"Hey, what is it?" Josh put an arm around her shoulder. Then a look of fear crossed his face. "They – did they hurt you?"

"No," she choked out. She let out a breath and tried to collect herself. "It's just – I guess it's just been a long day."

"Yeah," he nodded in understanding, and then they sat in silence for a minute, his arm still wrapped around her shoulders.

Finally she took a deep breath. "I meant you too."

He didn't have to ask what she was referring to. He drew back slightly as he remembered her words.

"I did, Josh."

"Donna, you don't have to take pity on me. Will's a good teacher to you; I wasn't. Fine. That's how it is." Her heart ached at the hurt in his voice. Despite the "tough political operative" image that he liked to present to the world, she knew how much emotional vulnerability he carried, not very far below the surface. He wounded easily.

"That's not how it is." She turned to look at him. "I don't know why I said that, but it wasn't true. I don't know, maybe I'm just turning into…into a mean person." She looked at the floor miserably.

He shook his head. "You're one of the least mean people I've ever met, Donna. You're just pissed at me, that's all. I'm not sure why, exactly, but…"

"I'm not pissed at you."

"Oh. Okay. Maybe you are just mean, then." His voice was only half joking.

She turned on the couch so she was facing him. "Josh, I can't stand this anymore. You were my best friend for eight years. I can't take any more of this tension between us. I miss you. I miss our friendship."

He looked at her. He didn't say anything, but from the expression on his face she knew what he was thinking. _You made that choice, not me. _

"Please," she continued softly, "Can't we fix things between us?"

He buried his face in his hands for a moment. When he spoke, it sounded like he was fighting tears himself.

"I don't know. I want to, Donna, I do. But…" His voice trailed off.

She closed her eyes. "I left the job, Josh. Not you."

"Yeah, ever hear of two weeks notice?" he suddenly snapped at her.

"I know. I admit I screwed up on that one."

He just looked at her for a moment, obviously trying to decide what to say.

Suddenly they were interrupted as Will came down the hall.

"Hey, there you are!" he said to Donna. "I thought I'd let you know-"

His voice broke off when he saw Josh. Clearly he didn't want his opponent's campaign manager overhearing their conversation.

Josh got up. "Well, I'll leave you with your mentor."

"Josh…"

He managed a small smile. "Goodnight, Donna. Will, I'll see you around."


	12. Chapter 12

Donna looked out the window of their office in the Convention hall, and gazed at the main floor where the convention would be getting underway in just hours. It was hard to believe they were finally here. In just four days, one way or another, the Democratic nomination would be decided.

"Amazing, isn't it?" Will commented as he came up beside her. "I'll be so glad when this is over, and Democrats can stop bickering amongst ourselves and work on getting Bob Russell elected President."

"Aren't you getting a little ahead of yourself?"

"The Vice President is about 99% sure Baker is on board for VP. That's game over. Russell's the nominee."

"That overconfidence thing – I'm not sure it's served us all that well so far in this campaign."

"Good point," Will nodded. "We can't be overconfident. So just for some insurance – here's some literature that the Colorado delegation is going to be circulating on the floor – it's meant to help keep our delegates in line, maybe even move some Santos ones into our corner."

He handed her a booklet, and she began thumbing through it.

"Now just so you know, I hesitated to even show you this…" he hedged, obviously trying to pre-empt something she was about to read. "You should be honored, really, that I trust you enough to…"

"Will!" she gasped. "This mentions the videotape rumor."

"It says it's a rumor. It acknowledges we don't know whether it's true or not."

"We do know!"

"We know Josh denied it, that's all. I believe Josh thinks it isn't true, but what if Santos lied to him?"

"Yeah, because I'm sure Santos is just itching to become the nominee only to have his political career destroyed in the general election. How would that benefit him, exactly?"

"The delegates have a right to know what's out there."

"What about the President's ultimatum?" she demanded. President Bartlet had recently threatened to step in if either campaign became too negative. "If he finds out about this…"

"Technically, it's not associated with our campaign. It's going to be circulated by members of the Colorado delegation, not us. We have no control over what they do."

She looked at him. "But they showed it to you first. They wanted to get your approval, right?"

He was quiet for a minute.

"Will?"

"I asked them to put it out there, Donna."

"God, Will…"

"Don't worry, the guy I talked to is completely loyal. He's not going to leak our conversation."

"You think that's my primary concern?"

"Hey, you think this is going to be the only low-blow piece of literature circulating on the floor once the convention gets underway? God only knows what they're going to say about Russell. We can't play Mr. Nice Guy and expect to win."

"It's racist, Will." Donna said quietly. "The rumor is racist, and you know it."

The edges of Will's mouth twitched slightly, as if he felt a twinge of conscience.

"It's not..." he protested weakly. Then his voice became defensive. "Look, I'm a campaign manager. My job is to get Bob Russell the nomination and the Presidency, not be the PC police. And if there's any chance that the videotape really is out there, the delegates need to know about it."

"Whatever gets you through the night," she snapped.

"Donna-"

"This isn't you, Will," she shook her head sadly. "You're not a bad person. I just hope you're going to be able to live with yourself when this campaign is over."

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

"He wants to sleep on it," the Vice President reported to Will and Donna, frustration evident in his voice. He had just held a closed-door meeting with Eric Baker, one in which they'd hoped to wrap up the Vice Presidential deal – but clearly things had not gone as planned.

"Sleep on it? We'll be on the third or fourth ballot by then." Will stared at the Vice President in disbelief.

"Yeah, I think he's aiming to be on it. The son of a bitch doesn't want to be VP. He's going to try and get nominated from the floor." The Vice President concluded angrily.

"Are you kidding?" Donna demanded. "Why? If he wanted to be President, why didn't he run in the primary?"

"Oh, why run in the primary and do all that work of campaigning when you can just wait for the Democrats to deadlock, swoop in at the convention, and walk away with the nomination?" Will seethed.

"You think he's going to walk away with the nomination?" Donna's face paled slightly.

"Not if I can help it. Come on, we need to figure out what this does to the map."

"Santos will lose Pennsylvania for sure," Donna tried to sound optimistic.

"Yeah, but it also puts a lot of our northeastern states at risk." Will commented. Then he threw a bag of throat lozenges on the table. "We may need these when we hit the phones."

Donna nodded. It was going to be a long day.

As the Vice President had predicted, within an hour, "Draft Baker" signs were being distributed on the convention floor. By the next day, on the second round of ballots, it was nearly a three-way tie between Baker, Santos, and Russell.

"It's all happening so fast," Donna observed.

"That's what a brokered convention is all about," Will sighed. "Four days to go from an impasse to party unity."

"I just don't understand how Baker can just jump into this thing yesterday and all of a sudden…I mean, don't people have to question how much he even really wants to be President, anyway? Since he wasn't willing to compete in the primaries like the rest of us? Why are the delegates so willing to hand this thing to him?"

As Will was about to answer, a fax came in over the fax machine. Donna picked it up and read it, then swallowed hard.

"What is it?" Will asked.

"Nothing," Donna looked away from him. "You don't need to worry about it."

"Who's it for?"

"No one." She started to walk away, still holding the fax.

Will's eyes narrowed and he followed Donna, grabbing the piece of paper from her.

He read them, and his eyes widened. "Donna, these are medical records showing Eric Baker's wife has been hospitalized twice for clinical depression."

"Yeah?"

"So you thought you'd try and hide this from me?" He immediately started walking toward the elevators leading to the Vice President's hotel suite. Donna followed him.

"Will, please, we can't use this. It's his wife, not him. So what if she's struggled with depression?"

"So what? It could be enough to take him out of contention for the nomination, that's what." He pushed the button on the elevator and waited for the door to open.

"Please don't do this."

He turned to her. "Donna, I know you think this is dirty politics, and maybe it is. But the only thing that would piss me off more than Santos getting the nomination is Baker getting the nomination -- someone who couldn't be bothered to campaign in the primaries, who won _no_ states, who _nobody_ voted for. Does that sound very democratic to you? Bob Russell and Matt Santos have had their lives scrutinized for months. What about Baker? People only started paying attention to him yesterday. Who knows what else he's hiding? So I'm sorry, but if he didn't want his family's privacy invaded, he shouldn't have pulled this stunt."

Donna tried in vain to talk him out of it as he walked up to the door to the Vice President's suite.

"Don't do this. The Vice President will do it if you tell him to. Please."

He ignored her pleas and walked into the Vice President's suite.


	13. Chapter 13

"Santos button? It's free," a teenage Santos campaign volunteer standing outside the convention hall offered as Donna walked by.

_Yeah, sure, why the hell not?_ She thought to herself, taking one of the buttons. She fingered it for a moment, fighting the temptation to put it on. Finally she stuffed it in her purse as she left the convention hall. She walked a few blocks to the hotel where she knew Josh and the Santos campaign were staying. She needed to talk to him. She had been planning on trying to work things out with him after the convention, when they weren't both so crazed, but right then she felt lonelier than she had in a long time. The Vice President hadn't hesitated for even a moment before leaking the hospital records. Will didn't appear to have an ounce of remorse over the type of campaign he was running, nor could he understand why it bothered her. She needed a friend. She needed Josh.

"Josh Lyman's room, please," she asked the clerk at the front desk. She suddenly hoped he wasn't staying under an alias.

"I'll give him a call. Your name?"

"Donna Moss." She felt herself tense slightly. What if he wouldn't even see her?

The clerk spoke on the phone for a moment, and then turned to her.

"Room 510."

Donna took the elevator up. As she got off on the fifth floor and walked down the hall, she noticed a Secret Service agent stationed outside of what she assumed was the hotel suite of Congressman Santos and his wife, one door down from Josh's room.

She knocked on his door, and he answered within seconds.

"What's going on?" His face was a mixture of worry and curiosity.

"I need to talk to you," she told him as she walked into the room. She noticed the TV was turned to CNN, where they were discussing the revelation about Baker's wife.

"Couldn't this get you in trouble?" Josh asked. "Cavorting with the enemy like this?"

"If Will wants to fire me, he can be my guest." She sat down on one of the chairs.

Josh raised his eyebrows and sat down in the chair next to her. "Trouble in Russell-land?"

"Nothing that I want to talk about," she sighed. Confiding in him on a personal level was one thing, but as frustrated as she was with Will and the Vice President, she wasn't willing to air their dirty laundry to Josh.

Josh nodded in understanding.

"So Santos has Secret Service protection already?" she asked curiously. She vaguely remembered hearing something about that in the news a few weeks ago, but she hadn't paid much attention.

Josh nodded. "He tried to hold off on it as long as he could. He said he didn't want to live in a bubble – which I guess when you're running for President is probably a vain hope – but after those videotape rumors surfaced…there wasn't a choice anymore."

She felt sick. "The threats against him increased after that?"

"Through the roof." A look of disgust crossed Josh's face. "You wouldn't believe it. Against him, his family, his _kids_ for God's sake – I'll never understand how people can hate like that."

Donna closed her eyes. Would Will have participated in spreading the rumors if he'd known they were actually putting the Santos family in physical danger? _Probably,_ she realized glumly. _He'd probably say we're not responsible for a bunch of nutcases sending threats, and that's what the Secret Service is for. _

"So the stuff about Baker's wife," Josh gestured toward the TV. "That come from you guys?"

"No comment," Donna responded flatly. She wondered if the Santos campaign had received the same fax they had. She supposed they probably had – whoever had sent it out would have had no reason to send it only to the Russell campaign. And she didn't harbor any illusion that Josh wouldn't have used it, just as Will had – so it must have been Santos who had vetoed the idea. He'd said no, even though he'd known it could cost him the nomination.

_What the hell am I doing on Russell's side in this thing, anyway?_ She asked herself for about the thousandth time.

She took a deep breath. "Anyway, I didn't come here to talk politics."

Josh nodded. "I figured."

"I came here because there's something I've been wanting to say to you ever since…" she paused for a moment. "I want to tell you I'm sorry."

"For what?"

"For leaving my job the way I did. For not giving you two weeks' notice, or any notice. For not even really saying goodbye."

Josh let out a long breath. "Didn't really matter, I guess. It's not like I stayed at the White House much longer than you did."

"That's not the point. I mean, I know it was crappy to leave you without an assistant, but that's not what's been tearing me up inside."

He looked at her in surprise. "It's been…tearing you up inside?"

"Yes," she nodded. "Josh, after everything we'd been through together, the bond we had – I know I just walked away from that. I acted like it didn't matter, or like it hadn't even existed in the first place. You were my best friend, and I just … I'm so sorry. I know you must have felt like it was because of you."

He was quiet for a minute. "Donna, come on. Of course it was because of me."

"No. It wasn't."

"Bull."

"Josh…"

"Donna, if you'd just decided you wanted a different job, you would have quit like a normal person. You would have given me notice – and I'd have been upset, really upset, but I would have understood. Honest to God, I would have. I'd have thrown you the biggest going-away party you'd ever seen. But for you to just announce, 'Oh by the way, Josh, I quit, there'll be a temp in your office tomorrow' – you're not that irresponsible. You even let me think you were joking, until the next morning, of course, when there was someone else at your desk. There's no way you would have done that unless it was me you wanted to leave, not the job."

Tears filled her eyes. "That's not true."

"Do you know how much time I've spent trying to figure out what I did?" he continued, hurt and anger evident in his voice. "I've gone over and over every conversation we had since you…trying to figure out if I said or did something that upset you so much you decided you couldn't work with me anymore."

"No."

"And then I thought maybe I freaked you out by going to Germany – maybe you felt that was…inappropriate."

"Josh, I was so glad you were there. I don't know what I would have done without you."

"Then what?" his voice sounded choked. "What did I do?"

"You didn't do anything."

"Donna-"

"You didn't do anything, that's the problem." She hadn't expected to get angry with him, but she found herself doing so. "You knew I wanted to grow in my career. Did you ever even try to help me with that? Give me any kind of push? Like the President did with Charlie? No. You were happy to keep me as your little assistant, answering your phones for the rest of my life."

"I figured you were an adult, you could make your own career decisions."

"Charlie's an adult too."

"Yeah, well, the President's a better man than I am, I've never disputed that." He sighed. "You're right. As much as he loved Charlie, he told him to quit as soon as he thought it was in his best interest. I don't think I could ever have told you to quit, Donna. I just couldn't have."

"Well…" she sighed. "If you had, I probably would have told you you weren't my damn father. I didn't want you to tell me to quit, Josh. I just…I guess I just needed…wanted… I wanted to think you saw me as capable, and smart…someone who had the ability to do more than just answer phones. I kept hoping you would eventually see me that way, but you never did."

"I did too…how can you say I never saw you as …"

"Then why didn't you give me more opportunities for advancement?"

"That's what I thought I was doing when I sent you to…" his voice broke off. He looked at her for a tense moment, and then buried his face in his hands.

"I know," Donna's voice was nearly a whisper.

"If that's why you're really mad at me, I understand." Josh said after a minute. He was staring straight ahead, his voice strained.

Her heart dropped. "Josh, no."

"You wanted to go on a trip to Brussels, not on a delegation to a goddamn war zone."

"Josh-"

"I just threw it at you. I didn't even give you a chance to say no."

"I didn't want to say no." Tears filled her eyes. She knew Josh well enough not to be surprised that he had been blaming himself for the attack. But that he could actually think she blamed him as well? "It meant the world to me that you sent me on that trip. I learned so much. And I never-" her voice broke off. "I never blamed you for what happened. Not for one second. How could you ever think I would blame you for something like that?"

"I don't know. I guess..." He took a deep breath and changed the subject. "But you're right, I could have done more. I should have. I knew you wanted to grow in your career, and believe me, I knew how capable you were. Don't think for a minute that I didn't. I just – I didn't want to lose you, that's what it boiled down to. I know that's selfish."

She sighed. "Well, what you said is true. I'm an adult. My career is my responsibility, not yours."

"Still."

She sighed. "And maybe…I guess you're right, in a way I did need to leave you. For awhile anyway. You know, so many of the stupid things I've done in my life were because I was subordinating my own best interest for a man. Like when I dropped out of college to support my boyfriend through medical school. And when I told everyone I'd been the one who leaked those remarks to the press in order to cover for Jack. And my job at the White House – well, my job was basically to take care of you. Not that I'm complaining," she added quickly. "It was a wonderful job, and I'm so grateful to have had it."

"So you're comparing me to Dr. Free Ride."

She smiled and put her hand on his shoulder. "No, not at all. But I guess I just needed to see what I could do on my own, without my whole purpose being to be at the service of a guy. Does that make any sense?"

He nodded and gave her a smile. "Yeah."

She let out a breath. "But the reason I didn't quit…like a normal person – it wasn't because of any of those things. It was because I was scared to death of having to tell you I was leaving. I wanted to move on, I needed to, but the idea of not seeing you every day broke my heart. And I was so scared that we wouldn't be able to stay friends afterward. So I let you keep putting off our talks until…" she sighed. "I know that's not an excuse. But it's the reason. Please believe that, Josh. My plan was never to just walk out on you without explanation the way I did."

Josh nodded quietly. "Okay."

A loud car commercial came on, startling them both, and Josh got up from the chair to turn off the TV. She followed him.

_Just so you know, he's in love with you._ She remembered what Will had said all those months ago. She knew she had feelings for Josh that went far beyond friendship. And as much as she didn't want to risk the reconciliation that had already taken place between them, if she didn't tell him how she felt now, when would she be able to?

She stood behind him and touched his arm.

"You know, there is one big advantage to me not working for you anymore."

"Yeah, what?"

She walked around so she was facing him. "Well, if we were ever to decide we wanted to…it would make certain things a lot less complicated." She began stroking his arm gently.

A smile played at Josh's lips. "So how's too-sexy-for-his-camera doing, anyway?"

"I wouldn't know." She stepped closer to him.

Before she could say anything else, Josh brought his mouth to hers and kissed her. She felt her heart racing as she returned the kiss, wrapping her arms tightly around him. The kiss deepened, and Donna slipped her hands underneath his shirt, running her fingers along his chest and pulling him gently toward the bed.

"Donna-" Josh gently pulled away from her.

"What's wrong? Concerned about the whole 'sleeping with the enemy' thing?" She smiled teasingly.

"No."

"Then what is it?" She gave him another kiss.

"Don't you think it's…too soon?"

"Too soon? Josh, we've known each other for eight years."

"I know." He sighed and pulled away from her embrace, sitting down on the bed.

"What's wrong?" She sat down beside him.

He sighed and closed his eyes.

"Is it – aren't you attracted to me?" She asked. "I mean, if you're not, I understand-"

"No, believe me, I am."

"Then what is it?"

"It's just that…" his voice broke off.

"What?"

"It's just…" he sighed, and then finally completed the sentence. "It's just that sex can ruin things between people. And I don't think I could take losing you again."

She wrapped an arm around his shoulder. "It won't ruin things between us."

He shook his head, taking her hand and stroking her fingers gently. "You don't know that, Donna. We know we work as friends. If we were to try to be something more, and it didn't work out…you know, there's only so many times you can rip my heart out of my chest before I just might not be able to recover."

He smiled as he said those words, but she knew he was serious about them. She felt another wave of guilt as she realized again just how much she'd hurt him by walking out on her job – on him – that December day.

She sighed and leaned her head against his shoulder. "I understand."

He kissed her on the forehead. "I'm not saying I don't ever want it to happen. Maybe eventually, when I'm not in the middle of a Presidential campaign, and I'm a little more…" he let out a deep breath "…emotionally stable….But right now," he gave her a smile. "Right now, I just want my best friend back, if she'll have me."

Donna squeezed his hand, and they sat in silence for a moment.

She gave him a teasing look. "So does this mean if I meet some guy I like and I introduce you to him, that you won't be jealous?"

"Oh, no, I'll definitely be jealous," he smiled back. "But it'll be a service to you, really. If you want a list of the guy's faults – or even if you don't, actually – I'll be happy to provide one to you, complete and unabridged."

She rolled her eyes, but laughed. "However would I conduct my dating life without you?"

"Good question."

"But you know, whomever I date, he's always going to have one major flaw that I don't know if I'll be able to get past."

"Hmm?"

"He won't be you."

Josh smiled at her, and their eyes met for a moment.

Suddenly they were both startled by Josh's phone ringing. It was sitting on the table across the room, and he got up to answer it.

"Hello? ...Hey Leo, what's up?" There was a pause. "Yeah…sure, we'll be there…I'll see you then. Bye."

"Leo?" She asked when he hung up the phone.

"He wants to meet with the Congressman and me tomorrow, before the convention gets underway." From the deep lines that had formed in Josh's forehead, she could tell he didn't think he was going to like what Leo had to say.

His expression changed as he looked at her, as if he'd suddenly remembered that she worked for his opponent's campaign.

"Josh, you know I have no intention of telling Will I was even here, let alone anything that gets said-"

"I know. I appreciate that. But look, I-"

She nodded in understanding. "I should probably go."

He nodded and walked with her toward the door. "Donna, thanks. Thanks for coming by, really. You don't know how much better I feel."

"Me too." She gave him a kiss on the cheek. "Goodnight, Josh."


	14. Chapter 14

The next day, Donna walked into the Russell campaign office to what could only be described as a party atmosphere.

"There you are! Where have you been?" Will ran up to her.

"What's going on?"

"Santos is speaking to the convention today. And rumor has it…" he grinned. "and it's a credible rumor, that he's dropping out of the race."

Donna's heart dropped. She did her best to look happy, but between knowing in her heart that Santos was the best candidate, and trying to imagine how anguished Josh must be right then…

She _was_ happy. This was the moment they'd been working for. And despite her recent differences with Will, she still liked and respected him, and she was proud of what they'd accomplished together.

"Well, let's not get too excited yet," a staffer warned. "We don't know who he's going to endorse."

"Please. You think he's going to endorse Baker? He's gotta be as pissed off as we are that Baker could just come into this and walk away with the nomination without doing any of the work to earn it. Plus, with the thing with his wife, he'd be going into the general election already damaged. I know-" Will caught Donna's look. "Watch that overconfidence thing. Right."

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

It was a tense day of calling delegates, trying to work out the contingencies. Who would support them if Santos endorsed Baker? Who would flip to them if he endorsed Russell?

"Any luck getting anything out of the Santos campaign?" Donna asked Will.

He shook his head. "They won't confirm or deny anything. When I tried to ask who they were endorsing, all they would say is Matt Santos."

Donna nodded and returned to her call list. She lobbied the delegates as she was expected to, but there was a knot in the pit of her stomach. The mood of everyone around her was one of cautious exuberance, and yet she couldn't fully join them in their celebration.

A little after 8:30 that evening, Donna, Will, the Vice President, and a number of staffers gathered in front of the television as Matt Santos was introduced.

"_Ladies and gentlemen, from the great state of Texas, Congressman Matthew Santos!" _

Donna took a deep, apprehensive breath as Congressman Santos began to speak.

"…_I have been asked by people that I respect to take this opportunity to support one of the other fine candidates who have made this race with me…"_

She felt tears sting her eyes. Whether they were tears of sadness or happiness – or both – she wasn't quite sure.

"_But I can't do that." _

An audible gasp went up in the room. Donna heard Will start cursing under his breath. She put her hand over her mouth, listening intently.

"…_There's been a great deal made today of Governor Baker's decision not to disclose his wife's minor medical condition. Many people believe that he should have. But I don't believe Governor Baker failed to disclose it because he was ashamed or embarrassed. I think he didn't disclose it because we're the hypocrites, not the Bakers." _

Donna found herself holding her breath in awe. Why hadn't she followed her heart and joined this man's campaign after the stem cell bill?

"_Because we're all broken, every single one of us, and yet we pretend that we're not." _

At that, Donna broke down. The tears that had formed in her eyes started running down her cheeks. Thoughts and images started flooding her mind. The disastrous way she'd walked out on her job and her relationship with Josh…her inability to follow her convictions when she'd realized she was on the wrong campaign…the depth of the hurt she'd seen on Josh's face the previous night, which she knew came not only from her leaving but also from emotional scars from his past…Will, who she knew was a good man, spreading cruel rumors he knew to be false and leaking information about Baker's wife, because he wanted so much for the candidate he served to be successful. Matt Santos was right. They _were_ all broken.

Will glanced over at her and put an arm around her shoulders, misinterpreting her tears. "I know. Damn him."

She pulled away from him and walked over to a desk, putting her head in her hands. She was glad the convention was nearly over, because she knew she could no longer campaign against Congressman Santos in good conscience. Not because of any anger toward Will or the Vice President, but because she knew beyond a shadow of a doubt that Matt Santos was the leader she wanted for her country.

Santos' speech wrapped up, and the applause from the crowd – from the delegates who would decide the race – was deafening.

Will walked over and sat down next to her, looking stunned and more than a little shaken by the speech and the response from the delegates.

"This isn't over," he told her quietly.

"Yes it is, Will." She patted his hand gently. "It's over."

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

It didn't take long for Donna's words to come true. Within minutes of the speech, Russell states and Baker states started falling into Matt Santos' column. Soon they learned that President Bartlet was going to lean on Ernie Gambelli from the New York Teachers' Union to endorse Santos. Within hours, the delegates had made a decision.

Matthew Santos was the Democratic nominee for President of the United States.

Donna was walking the halls of the arena, deep in thought, when she nearly ran into Josh, who was jogging in the other direction.

"Hey!" she smiled at him. "What are you doing out here? Shouldn't you be somewhere getting champagne poured on you or something?"

"I had some business to take care of," he told her, looking happier than she'd seen him in a long time.

"Congratulations, Josh. Really."

He barely seemed to hear her. "We won. I can't believe we really won. San-tos! San-tos!" he started mimicking the chants from the crowd. Then suddenly his expression changed. "Oh God, Donna, I'm sorry. I'm not trying to be a jerk. I know how beyond miserable it is to wind up on the bad side of an election – I mean, believe me, I know how sick to my stomach I felt a few hours ago when I thought this thing was going to go other way. Go ahead and slap me if I'm being too arrogant."

She giggled. "You'd like that, wouldn't you?"

"Maybe."

"Josh, in all seriousness," she took his hand and looked at him carefully. "I think the best man won. In fact, I know the best man won."

He looked at her. "Really?"

"Yes. Really."

He shook his head. "I knew it! I _knew_ there was no way you could actually prefer _Bob Russell_ to someone like…" his voice broke off. "I'm sorry. I'm being arrogant again, aren't I?"

"You? Arrogant? Never." She teased. Then she gave him a soft smile. "It's true, though. Santos was the better candidate. I've known that for awhile, but I just couldn't…I think I have a new appreciation of what it must have taken for you to leave Hoynes' campaign for Bartlet's eight years ago."

"Yeah."

They both looked up as they saw Matt Santos coming down the hall, accompanied by his wife, several staffers, and a number of Secret Service agents.

"Josh! Where have you been?" Matt hurried toward him.

"Taking care of some stuff. I have some good news about our VP choice."

Matt came up to him, and the two men gave each other a long hug.

"We did it. _You_ did it." Josh shook his head in amazement as he looked at Matt.

"We've come a long way from that office in New Hampshire with that cardboard sign." Matt observed.

Josh put his hand over his eyes, tearing up slightly. "That we have."

"Well I know I haven't always been the easiest candidate to work with…"

"I know I haven't always been the easiest campaign manager to work with…"

Matt looked at him seriously. "But I can never thank you enough, Josh. I owe all of this to you."

Josh shook his head. "No. You owe all of it to you."

"Well, we make a hell of a team, I think."

Josh nodded in agreement.

"So how does it feel to be the Democratic nominee…" Josh's voice broke off as a huge smile crossed his face. "God, I love saying that!"

Matt returned his grin. "It's kind of fun to hear, too."

"Well, get used to it!"

"Hey, I'm sorry for not giving you a heads up on that speech," Matt apologized. "I wasn't sure I was going to go through with it until the last minute, so…plus, I wanted you to have deniability with Leo in case it backfired."

"You mean you just thought I didn't have enough gray hairs yet – thought you'd add a few more." Josh smiled.

"Just trying to keep you on your toes," Matt teased.

"Congressman, that's one thing that's never been a problem working with you."

Donna watched the scene with a smile. She still felt some sadness over Russell's loss – it was impossible to spend all your waking hours for months working toward something without becoming emotionally invested in it – and even more, she found herself wishing she'd joined the Santos campaign in the first place so she could really be a part of this victory celebration. But all her conflicting emotions aside, she knew things had ended the way they were meant to.

"So we're all going out to celebrate," Matt told Josh. "You're coming, right?"

"Wouldn't miss it." Josh turned to Donna. "Hey, this might sound strange, but do you want to come with us?"

"Yeah," Matt encouraged her. "Please come. We're all Democrats now."

"No," she shook her head. "Thank you, but…I should really spend some time with Will, I think. He's pretty upset. So's the Vice President."

"Bob Russell ran a hell of a campaign," Matt offered graciously. "And you did a hell of a job working for him."

"Thanks." Donna smiled and reached out to shake his hand. "And congratulations, Congressman. I mean it. That speech -- well, the speech was amazing. You're going to give Vinick a run for his money."

"I hope so."

She said goodbye to Josh and watched as the group of them walked down the hall. Then she turned and headed back toward the offices of the Russell campaign.

Her phone rang. She glanced at it, saw it was CJ, and answered.

"Hey, how are you doing?" CJ asked, concern in her voice.

"Okay. I'm happy about the way things turned out. And sad about it, if that makes any sense at all."

"It does," CJ confirmed. "Give Will and the Vice President my best. I know this can't be easy for them."

"I will. Thanks."

CJ was quiet for a minute. "So I guess I steered you wrong when we had our talk earlier."

"First time for everything," Donna said with a smile.

"You know," CJ admitted. "I think I was so consumed with the practicalities of the situation – wanting Russell to have an easy ride to the nomination because I figured he was going to be the nominee no matter what, so it would be best that he didn't get beat up too badly in the primaries, and then worrying so much about party unity – that I have to confess I really didn't spend as much time as I should have actually trying to figure out which candidate would be the best President."

"Well, all of those things are reasonable concerns," Donna acknowledged.

"Yeah, they are, but still. But I will say this for the Democratic party. The old joke may be true – 'I'm not a member of an organized political party, I'm a Democrat' – but I think this time, we managed to get it right."

Donna smiled broadly. "Yes, we did."


End file.
